New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (FHC) and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park are partnering with Ian Coss, host of GBH’s The Big Dig podcast, for a special screening and conversation about the New Bedford fishermen’s strike of 1985-86, entitled “I Hope Those People Sink.” The documentary explores the legacy of that explosive three-month period through extensive archival footage and interviews with key participants.
Following the one-hour film, Coss will be joined by members of New Bedford’s commercial fishing industry for a live conversation and Q&A about the strike and its ongoing legacy. The program will take place on Friday, February 20, at 7:00pm National Park’s auditorium at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. Doors open at 6:30pm. Admission to this event is free, but people are encouraged to register in advance through the Center’s website.
The program is part of FHC and NPS’ ongoing free Dock-u-mentary film screening series, which explores a variety of themes and topics related to commercial fishing and the history and traditions of the maritime world. Films are screened every third Friday, October through April. “I Hope Those People Sink” is also part of a larger upcoming podcast series from GBH News called Catching the Codfather, which chronicles the New Bedford waterfront across several decades, centered around the rise and fall of its most controversial figure: Carlos Rafael. For more information on the whole series, click here.
The 1985-86 fishermen’s strike represents a contentious period on New Bedford’s working waterfront, and its repercussions are still being felt today. Years of diminishing landings, tightening federal regulations on the industry, and rising operating costs increased tensions between fishermen and boat owners. After failing to come to an agreement over shares of the catch, paying of trip expenses, hiring practices, and the fishermen’s pension fund, the Seafarers International Union called for a general strike among its members on December 26, 1985. The strike involved over 700 New Bedford fishermen and about 100 vessels. The striking fishermen shut down the port and shut down access to the City’s seafood auction. Violence and threats were reported throughout the main strike period of late December 1985 to mid-February 1986, including a bomb threat on the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge on January 10, 1986. By the end of February, picketing waned and almost all 250 boats in the fleet had sailed once since the strike began, but no new contracts had been signed. The strike would lead to the end of the New Bedford Fish Auction at the Wharfinger Building.
Ian Coss is the host and creator of “The Big Dig,” which has been honored with a Peabody Award and named one of the Best Podcasts of All Time by Time Magazine. When the show launched in 2023, it made best of the year lists from The New Yorker and Vulture, while spending over six weeks in the Top 100 shows on Apple Podcasts. Previously, his audio memoir "Forever is a Long Time" was named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Apple Podcasts.
