Spirit of the Sea

The cry of a seagull, a plume of spray, the bright pink of a plastic float, boxes of glittering fish on the quay, fishermen's wooden shedsall these stir in us deep memories of the sea. Marie-France Boyer takes us on a voyage to fishing communities along the coasts of the North Atlantic and the shores of the Channel and the North Sea. She takes us to the heart of our collective memory, gathering traces of this separate seagoing world, which is both familiar and romantic. Lines, nets, lobster pots, marker flags, buoys, and anchorsfrom Boulogne to Birarritz, from Fecamp to the Ile d'Ouessant, from Maine to Norfolk, there remains an ancient repertoire, a visual imagery of richness and power. Today this way of life, always subject to the violence of the elements, is disappearing. Fishing over the last fifty years has been completely transformed by industrialization, and small-scale coastal fishing is today in decline. Yet many of the old rituals remainfunerals, carnivals, festivals of the sea. This book celebrates the harsh and singular world of fishermen, and reveals the poetry of the everyday. 147 illustrations, 131 in color.