In this image provided by Aaron Pike Rugh, the retired sardine carrier Jacob Pike, which sank last winter off Harpswell, Maine, is seen after a salvage company raised the vessel in this photo taken, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in waters off South Portland, Maine. In this image provided by Aaron Pike Rugh, the retired sardine carrier Jacob Pike, which sank last winter off Harpswell, Maine, is seen after a salvage company raised the vessel in this photo taken, Saturday, Aug.
The first U.S. sardine cannery opened in 1875 in Eastport, Maine, with workers sorting, snipping and packing sardines, which fueled American workers and, later, allied troops overseas. On the nation’s opposite coast, sardine canneries were immortalized by John Steinbeck in his 1945 novel “Cannery Row,” which focused on Monterey, California.
He said he hoped that the Coast Guard would hand the vessel over to the nonprofit without being saddled with costs associated with environmental remediation. Since that’s not possible, he’s modifying his goal of saving the entire vessel intact. Instead, he hopes to save documentation and enough components to be able to reconstruct the vessel.