Sunday Series: Captain Bob Peacock on Downeast's Sardine Industry

Please join us as Captain Bob Peacock, president of the R.J. Peacock Canning Company in Lubec, shares the history of the North American sardine industry.

The sardine industry in Maine was born in Eastport with the Wabanaki people who harvested herring in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay. Early colonists capitalized on the robust population of the first in the area surrounding Eastport and Julius Wolff built the first cannery in Eastport in 1876. Within a few decades Eastport became known as the Sardine Capital of the World. The R.J. Peacock Canning Company was founded by Robert J. Peacock in Lubec in 1917. It soon became one of the biggest players in the industry, expanding beyond Lubec to Eastport. It was owned by the Peacock family for generations.

The company's most recent owner, Bob Peacock, ran the company until recently although it ceased sardine canning Downeast in 1992. The company continued processing salmon in Lubec until 2001, and after that ran salmon-processing businesses internationally for another 12 years. He will talk about sardine industry history.

About the presenter

Bob Peacock, a resident of Eastport, grew up within the can company itself, his family living for a time upstairs in the Lubec cannery. He took over from his father, Robert Peacock, as the head of the company in 1988. He has also served as a ship captain with numerous lines and has been the harbor pilot for 49 years, guiding large ships into the Eastport harbor.