By Sheila Dassatt
How many of you remember entering Maine on Route 1 in Kittery and being welcomed by a big sign of a fisherman holding a can of sardines all dressed in yellow rain gear with a sow’wester on his head? Well that was Big Jim! He is a 40 foot-tall fisherman that watched over Maine’s working waterfronts since 1959 and welcomed northbound travelers to “Sardineland” to celebrate Maine’s sardine industry at that time. He was originally made of painted plywood. He was a welcoming site there until the late 1960s. Big Jim was named after the Maine Sardine Council’s director, James Warren and was an icon for representing Maine’s fishing and cannery economy.
When they built a new Route 1 bridge that bypassed his Kittery location, the Stinson Canning Company rescued him. He was rebuilt sturdier with aluminum panels and moved him to Prospect Harbor which is in the town of Gouldsboro. (Downeast). He was an icon for the sardine fishery and production which was the last operating sardine cannery in the United States. When the Era of Lobstering in Maine became a big attraction, the Stinson factory closed and a lobster processor took over the site. Big Jim’s sardine can was painted over to look like a lobster trap. The Prospect Harbor location was slated for development, so Big Jim was taken down for repairs. He had stood over Prospect Harbor for more than six decades.
Big Jim was transported to Belmont Boatworks on Route 3 in Belmont for a complete restoration. Most of the funds for this restoration were donated to the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport and is going to be an estimated $30,000 for the project. Belmont Boatworks will be stripping his paint from the aluminum panels for restoration. Mural artists, the WOW Collective (an all women mural group) will renew the artwork on Big Jim and bring the sardine can back to its original look, replacing the lobster trap that had been painted over the original sardine can that he had been holding for decades.
Following the restoration, Big Jim will be stationed at the Penobscot Marine Museum’s Campus in Searsport as the centerpiece of the “Sardineland” exhibit. He will remain on display at the museum throughout the summer and into the fall and then return to his permanent home in Prospect Harbor which is owned by Bold Coast Seafood in partnership with Bold Coast Seafood, the new owners of the former Stinson Cannery and the Gouldsboro Historical Society, they are breathing new life and awareness into Big Jim so that the story of Maine’s sardine industry and the generations who worked there will never be forgotten. Penobscot Marine Museum is having a big celebration (which unfortunately will be behind us by the time you read this), but I’d still like to mention it in their honor for all that they have done. It was on June 13th at 2:00 pm and free to attend! They had live performances byThe Hot Suppers and the Bookhead SweetTooth. How do you like those names?! I’m sure that they are both very talented and will set the joyous atmosphere!
Big Jim will return home to the Bold Coast in Prospect Harbor to resume his post overlooking the harbor. This is an example of restoring our Maine Heritage and sharing this with our visitors. When they see Big Jim, this way there will be an understanding of what he is all about. Penobscot Marine Museum is a 501 (c) (3) organization as determined by the Internal Revenue Service. If you would like to make a donation to help sponsor this project, you can donate by check payable to Penobscot Marine Museum, P. O. Box 498, Searsport, ME 04974. If you prefer, they have a donation site on their website for donating by cyberspace.
Not all is lost in Maine when it comes to canned fish. We have folks that are trying to bring it back. Joshua Scherz, co-founder of Maine Canned Fish wants to offer marketing opportunities for fishermen up and down the coast. His canning operation is in Topsham, Maine and hopes it will be up and running by this summer. “So the fish will come in the day of production. We will be receiving groundfish and aquaculture from the Portland Fish Exchange all the way up to Frenchman’s Bay and as far north as Lubec,” Scherz said. The U.S.D.A. has approved seven of the company’s varieties, including cod, scallops and lobster. When asked if lobster in a can would interest people, Scherz stated “lobster is an iconic meal in Maine and I think that we have created a tool kit to make a lobster roll at home.”
What a concept! With this being said, there may be hope for our fishermen and consumers alike. Maybe it can also make it more affordable and accessible for those that don’t live near the coast!
