Lake Erie Fish Wars: 'Shots Fired at Local Fishermen'
Did you know that there was once a 10-year stretch when armed Canadian revenue ships declared war on the fishermen of Erie, Pennsylvania? Gillnetting on the 'wrong side' of the international line separating Erie (USA) and Long Point (Canada), Erie fishers were hauling in thousands of tons of "Canadian" fish. How were Erie's "fish pirates," as the Canadians called them, able to outsmart, and outrun, federal officers? How did 'the war' escalate from bow-mounted gatling guns to movable machine guns? What led to "peace", and what did that look like? Join JES Scholar-in-Residence and author of the weekly series "On the Waterfront," Dr. David Frew to an exciting look into this decade-long war.
Location: Jefferson Educational Society - 3207 State St, Erie, PA 16508
Date/Time: Monday, March 17, 7pm to 8:30pm
Admission: $10/person; $15 with guest
Historian and author David Frew, Ph.D., is a JES Scholar-in-Residence. An emeritus professor at Gannon University, he held a variety of administrative positions during a 33-year career. He is also emeritus director of the Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center, where he had previously served as Executive Director for five years, and is president of his own management consulting business.
After beginning with a five-year career in engineering, Frew took a teaching fellowship at Kent State University, where he earned a doctorate in Organizational Behavior in 1970. His love of Lake Erie brought him back to Erie where he became a faculty member and the founding director of Gannon's MBA Program. His career at Gannon included administrative posts as Director of the Health Services Administration and Public Administration Programs, as well as Dean of the Graduate School. In 1982 and 1983, he took a leave from Gannon to complete a post-doctorate at Kent State University where he completed advanced coursework in psychology and research design. He was also a visiting professor at Mercyhurst University for four years.
Dr. Frew has authored or co-authored 40 books, most recently “Accidental Parade: A 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle,” and more than 100 articles, cases, and papers. His work has appeared in publications ranging from refereed journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology to popular magazines such as Sail Magazine and Cruising World.
Growing up on Erie's lower west side as a proud "Bay Rat," Frew was known to join neighborhood kids playing and marauding along the west bayfront. He has written for years about his beloved Presque Isle and his adventures on the Great Lakes. In the “On the Waterfront Series” for the JES, the Scholar-in-Residence takes note of life in and around the water.
