Library Guides: Fish and Fishing: Home

Digital Collections

Biery (Galen) Photo Albums
Includes images of Pacific American Fisheries operations and equipment.
CPNWS Photo Database
Searchable database of over 7000 images, including substantial images relating to fish and fishing practices in the collection of Galen Biery and other historians and photographers.
Fly Fishing Oral Histories (Special Collections)
Transcripts of interviews with fly fishers in the Pacific Northwest. Persons interviewed discuss fly-tying, favorite locations, and memorable experiences.
Tikka (Rubin) film footage of commercial fishing.
Color film documenting commercial fishing operations in Clam Gulch, Alaska, from 1958.

Related Guides

Databases A-Z
Comprehensive list of databases and other electronic resources provided for WWU users. WWU Log-in required for access to databases.
Environmental Studies Databases
WWU Log-in required for database access.
Government Environmental Websites
a selection of websites about environmental issues produced by agencies of the U.S. Government.

Introduction

This guide provides an introduction to resources about the history of fish, fishing and fisheries in the Pacific Northwest region, focusing on the rich resources available through the Archives & Special Collections at Western Libraries. Both the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and Western Libraries Special Collections house substantial resources about these topics, including information about Native American fishing practices and treaty rights, commercial fisheries, fly fishing, and some of the conflicts and controversies surrounding access to fish as a resource.

If you have additional questions or cannot find the information for which you are looking, please contact us (see right-hand column).

From the Library Catalog

Try searching the combined Libraries Catalog and Summit Catalog as the OneSearch Catalog or WorldCat for both published and archival sources. Ask an archivist or librarian if you need assistance. Useful search terms may include:

Fishery law and legislation
Fisheries
Fly fishing
Fly tying
Fly tyers
Salmon fishing
Salmon fisheries
Salmon canning industry
Indians of North America -- Northwest, Pacific -- Fishing law and legislation
Lummi Indians -- Fishing

Depending on your topic, some useful secondary sources may include:

Uncommon Controversy: fishing rights of the Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Nisqually Indians
Call Number: Wilson 4C - Northwest Collection E78 W3 U25 1975
Special Collections Fly Fishing Collection
Over 1500 titles housed at Western Libraries Special Collections
The Great Pacific American Fisheries, 1899-1965 : recollections of Galen Biery : conversations August 12, 1993-July 20, 1994 by Biery, Galen.
Call Number: Western Library Wilson 4C - Northwest Collection (HD8039.F6752 U63 1994) and other locations
To Fish In Common: the Ethnohistory of Lummi Indian Fishing by Boxberger, Daniel L.
Handbook of western Washington Indian treaties: with special attention to treaty fishing rights by Daniel Boxburger
Call Number: Western Library - Oversize Books E95.H35 1979
Organizing Asian American labor: the Pacific Coast canned-salmon industry, 1870-1942 by Friday, Chris, 1959-
Call Number: Western Library Wilson 3E - Books HD6515.C27 F75 1994
Between 1870 and 1942, people of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino ancestry toiled in the salmon canneries on coastal bays and streams from central California to western Alaska. Successive generations of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans formed the predominant body of workers in an industry that played a central role in the economic growth of the western states and territories. This book traces the shifts in the ethnic and gender composition of the cannery labor market from its origins through its decline and examines the workers' creation of work cultures and social communities.
Pacific Northwest Croatian by Margaret Sleasman
Call Number: CPNWS Reference Room F855.2.C76 C76
History, antecdotes, & stories by & about local Croatian fishing Families in Bellingham.
The H. W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest by Newell, Gordon (ed.)
Call Number: Archives & Special Collections--Archives Building CPNWS Reference Room
An illustrated review of the growth and development of the maritime industry from 1895.
Lummi Elders Speak by Nugent, (Ann V.) Kinley, Eva
Publication Date: 1999
The History of Lummi Fishing Rights by Nugent, Ann
Call Number: Western Library Wilson 4C - Northwest Collection E99.L95 N79
Pacific American Fisheries, Inc.: a history of a Washington State salmon packing company, 1890-1966 by Radke, August Carl, 1922-