Anthropological Fieldwork among the Commercial Fishermen of Port Dover, Ontario, 1977-1978: Chronicling the Cultural Traditions of an Occupational Community in a Lake Erie Commercial Fishing Port

Anthropologists have long relied on field studies in support of their research. For the students of the discipline, fieldwork remains a particularly important (but not obligatory) rite of passage which they must pass successfully in order to become a recognized and accredited practitioner of the discipline. This document serves two purposes. First, the author describes the challenges he faced during the period of his anthropological fieldwork (as a Ph.D. student) among commercial fishermen in Port Dover, Ontario. Secondly, it serves to highlight the long-established need for anthropologists and other social scientists to engage in ethnographic research of Great Lakes commercial fishermen. These fishermen share their experiences in the work which defines them.