On Exhibit: “Welcome to Sardineland” from the Penobscot Marine Museum

Welcome to Sardineland is on display in the library’s Picker Room during the month of April.* Join PMM Digital Curator Matt Wheeler on Thursday, April 30, 6:30 PM in the Picker Room for the accompanying talk.

For twentieth-century Maine coastal communities, herring (marketed as sardines) equaled money. Canneries, fishing weirs, and herring fishing boats called the Maine coast home, from the Canadian to New Hampshire borders.

Beginning in 1875, the Sardine Industry and Herring Fishery was a major economic driver; the sardine canneries employed hundreds of women, more than the number of men fishing for herring. Changes in American eating habits, competition for herring as bait, and federal quota restrictions led to the closing of Maine’s last sardine cannery in 2010.

This exhibit draws from the Penobscot Marine Museum’s extensive collections documenting the Maine sardine industry from catching to processing to marketing these tiny but mighty fish.

This exhibit also relates to Penobscot Marine Museum’s 2026 season exhibit of the same name, which opens in late May. 

* The Picker Room is also used for programs, events, and private meetings. Check the calendar and call the library to ensure the Picker Room is open for viewing.