Shipwreck off Gloucester listed on National Register of Historic Places

March 3, 2009 06:52 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

(Maine Maritime Museum)

The Joffre converted from fishing with hooks to trawling.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The wreck of an early 20th-century fishing schooner that is resting on the sea floor off Massachusetts has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

The 105-foot-long Joffre, which was built in 1918 in Essex and sank in 1947 off Gloucester, represents technological change in the New England fishing industry as it transitioned from fishing with hooks to trawling, the NOAA said.

The Joffre fished with tub trawls, or hooks, until 1939, when it was converted to a diesel-powered eastern rig dragger, a type of trawler, the NOAA said in a statement. Trawlers catch fish by pulling nets behind them.

The conversion "reflected changes in the fishing industry, both at sea and onshore, that dramatically changed America's relationship to seafood," said Craig MacDonald, superintendent of the NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which is where the wreck lies. "The shipwreck is a physical link to New England's rich maritime heritage."

Motorized trawlers were introduced to New England at the turn of the century and rapidly replaced the schooner fleets, according to a NOAA history of the groundfishing industry.

The changeover from fishing with hooks to trawling meant that more fish could be taken out of the sea, but it also meant that protections were needed against overfishing, said NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen.

“When we go from artisanal to industrial fishing, we see the harvest levels increase and we have to do more to manage so we can have stocks that can recover from harvesting,” she said.

The Joffre is the fourth shipwreck site included within the 842-square-mile sanctuary to receive National Register designation. Sanctuary regulations prohibit anyone from tampering with the wrecks.

Scientists from the NOAA and the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut documented the site in 2006, the NOAA said.