End of the Line : The Wright's Creek Commercial Fishing Graveyard Belhaven North Carolina

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Jacqueline L. Marcotte (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Advisor

Nathan Richards

Abstract: A 1994-1995 survey (Babits and Kjorness 1995) discovered the presence of several abandoned vessel complexes in Wright's Creek a rural area located between the Pamlico and Pungo Rivers in North Carolina. These graveyards composed of the discarded vessels and equipment of the commercial fishing community serve a purpose for those who create and maintain them along their property boundaries bestowing them with meaning and regard. Rather than aesthetically displeasing "eye-sores " these sites serve as a repository for the memories and nostalgia of the commercial fishers. In addition they provide materials for salvage and reuse aiding in maintenance of working vessels proving a financial boon in the process of boat breaking. The archaeological study of a commercial fishing graveyard allows interpretation of the social economic and technological changes affecting the surrounding community. The concentration of abandoned vessels in this embayment presents a unique opportunity to study behavioral patterns associated with a rural boat graveyard as the adjacent community is still interacting with the discarded material remains. Continued interaction demonstrates social significance as the surrounding community has intimate ties to the abandoned. This area of Belhaven once a vital waterway for commercial fishers is experiencing economic decline as evidenced by the high number of vessel and equipment graveyards. 

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Date: 2011

Keywords

Archaeology, History, Fisheries and aquatic sciences, Belhaven (N.C.), Boat Construction, Fishing, Pamlico Beach, Ship Graveyard, Vessel Abandonment

Subjects

Ships--Abandoning of

Fishing boats

Underwater archaeology--North Carolina--Wright's Creek

Wright's Creek (N.C.)--History

Belhaven (N.C.)--History

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