High Boats: A Century of Salmon Remembered

For most of the 20th century, life in British Columbia's remote coastal towns was rough, raw and often dangerous, but it was still the golden age of the West Coast fishery. If you were smart, tough and lucky enough to find a big run, roll with the weather and stay afloat, there was good money to be made on the boats--money enough to raise a family, buy a house, maybe put down a deposit on a bigger boat.

There was also steady, if lower-paid, work ashore in the cannery towns such as Alert Bay, Namu and Ceepeecee that sprouted like mushrooms along the coast. Whites, Chinese, Japanese and Natives worked hard, played rough and shaped a unique West Coast culture.

In the 21st century, however, that way of life is on the wane. The advent of refrigerated packers put small-town canneries out of business. Then salmon stocks began to drop, and Ottawa started buying back fish boats to shrink the fleet.

High Boats is a celebration of--and an elegy for--that golden age. Through careful research, a priceless personal trove of photographs and sharp, earthy prose, Pat Wastell Norris wraps the history of coastal settlements around the lives of two veteran fishermen taking their boat for one last trip. When speaking through these characters, or guiding the reader around her childhood haunts in Alert Bay, Norris paints word pictures so vivid you can almost feel the gillnetters roll and smell the bull kelp.
 
"[Pat Norris] has created an engaging book that blends the life stories of two men with a history of West Coast salmon fishing. . . . Norris writes in a casual, entertaining style that captures the sights, sounds and smells of the fishing industry, as well as the emotions of those working in it. Memoir and historical fact are skillfully combined to create a story that keeps the reader eager to turn pages."
-Paula Wild, Comox Valley Record
–Comox Valley Record

"Norris blends first-hand accounts from some of the Bay's best fishermen with views of today's residents, including fish farmers and biologists, to give us a clear picture of the enormous changes that have befallen this area and the many still to come. Includes a generous helping of recent and historic photos. Highly recommended!"
-Western Mariner
–Western Mariner

"High Boats is a good read for anyone. . ."
-Bruce Logan, The Fisherman
–The Fisherman

". . . a thoroughly good read. High Boats, written by Pat Norris is a sharp, gritty, multi- faceted book. It takes us on a voyage up and down Johnstone Strait and through 100 years of time."
-Goody Niosi, Harbour City Star (Nanaimo)
–Harbour City Star

"Pat Norris chronicles the plight of the salmon fishery, the advent of aquaculture and the battles between government bureaucrats and fishermen. Well-illustrated and well-researched, this book provides an insider's look into a world that is vanishing as surely as the tea clipper and the fishing schooner."
-Martyn Clark, Victoria Times-Colonist
–Victoria Times-Colonist

For most of the 20th century, life in British Columbia's remote coastal towns was rough, raw and often dangerous. But if you were smart, tough and lucky there was good money to be made on the fishboats -- money enough to raise a family, buy a house, maybe put down a deposit on a bigger boat. There was also steady work ashore in the cannery towns such as Alert Bay where Whites, Chinese, Japanese and Natives worked hard, played rough and shaped a unique West Coast culture. By the end of the 1900s though, that way of life was on the wane. Refrigerated packers put small-town canneries out of business. Then salmon stocks began to drop, and Ottawa started buying back fish boats to shrink the fleet. High Boats is a celebration of -- and an elegy for -- the golden age of the West Coast fishery.
–Pacific Yachting

Harbour Publishing
ISBN: 9781550172898
Hardback
6.0 in x 9.0 in - 250 pp
Publication Date: 04/11/2003
BISAC Subject(s): HIS006020-HISTORY / Canada / Post-Confederation (1867-)