Paid programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Maritime Museum in Beaufort.
Join Associate Museum Curator Benjamin Wunderly to learn about the history of U.S. Life-Saving Service operations, the precursor to the United States Coast Guard.
Join us for a free conference exploring the importance of the menhaden fishery, from its history to today. Admission is free, and a boxed lunch — courtesy of the Friends of the Museum — is included. The conference lineup includes: 10 a.m.: Welcome and introductions...
Sharks are some of the most fascinating, ecologically important, threatened, and misunderstood animals on Earth. Join award-winning marine biologist Dr. David Shiffman in the museum auditorium for a free presentation on how—and why—we should protect these mysterious, misunderstood guardians of the ocean. Copies of his...
For generations, North Carolina’s oyster industry was underdeveloped. This changed in the late 19th century when North Carolina oyster beds attracted attention following overharvesting in the Chesapeake Bay and the nation’s insatiable appetite for oysters. By the late 1880s, North Carolina oystermen and fish dealers...
The menhaden industry of North Carolina, which began in 1865 and ended in 2005, is one of the State’s most thoroughly documented fisheries. Unfortunately, the industry’s origins have never been thoroughly explored. Due to a reliance on two primary sources, scholars have assumed that there...
North Carolina’s shrimp industry slowly emerged in the Lower Cape Fear region during the 19th century. However, it did not take-off until the years leading up to World War I when Scandinavian immigrants introduced the otter trawl to Brunswick County. Following the introduction of the...
Join Tim Hatcher, author of Time and Tide: The Vanishing Culture of the North Carolina Coast, for a presentation and Q&A about the beautiful, ever-changing coast of North Carolina and its rich past and present culture. Tim lives on a North Carolina beach that he loves...
Today we might imagine saltwater sport fishing in North Carolina as one where sport fishers pursue large sailfish and marlin offshore aboard fiberglass sport fishing boats. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, recreational fishermen could only dream of catching such fish. Instead, recreational fishermen...
Join Maritime History Curator David Bennett in the museum auditorium as he traces the development of North Carolina's crab fishery over the years. From being one of the state's least profitable fisheries to one of its leading, blue crabs have played a big role in...
In 1867, W. J. Bushall moved from Beaufort, North Carolina, to Core Creek to farm and fish. He left behind a diary from 1867 that details his life farming, fishing, and transporting his agricultural products by boat to market. The diary provides a view of...
Plantations that bordered coastal North Carolina’s creeks, rivers, and sounds often possessed fisheries that were operated by both free and enslaved peoples. While a few studies have provided some insights into the functioning of these fisheries, no one has analyzed labor management at them. Drawing...
Following World War II, the Congress of Industrial Workers embarked on a campaign to unionize the South. As a part of that campaign, the International Fishermen and Allied Workers of America, a small Seattle-based labor union, attempted to unionize North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry. The...
Registration and Refund Policy:
Registration costs, less a 10% fee, are refunded when the museum receives cancellation notice at least 48 hours before the start of a program. There is no refund within 48 hours of the start of a program, and tickets cannot be transferred to a later program date within that 48 hour timeframe. Due to material costs and supply, Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center Courses require a 2-week notification for cancellations; only the course fee is refunded if cancellation occurs prior to 2 weeks. The Museum reserves the right to cancel any program that does not meet the minimum participant requirement up to one week before the program is scheduled. In the event of cancellation due to low enrollment, participants who have submitted a fee will receive a full refund. If a program is canceled due to inclement weather and unable to be rescheduled for another date, the participants will receive a full refund.