Dock-u-mentary: Striker's Passing

Hosted in partnership with New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the films explore a variety of themes and topics related to commercial fishing and the history and traditions of the maritime world. All films are shown in the National Park's auditorium (33 William Street) every third Friday October through April at 7:00pm.*

In Striker's Passing, filmmaker Jeremy Mayhew creates a poetic and powerful portrait of the New England harpoon swordfisherman and his fate in the modern world. Centering the film around his father, one of the last swordfish strikers on the East Coast, Mayhew presents a personal documentary sharing rare insight into the beauty and frustration of a life dependent on the sea and its resources, facing extinction in the wake of the current fishing industry's industrial-scale harvesting methods.

Resonating the atmosphere of a world few of us get to know, Striker's Passing offers unforgetable footage of a swordfishing voyage taken in the summer of 1997 from the tiny fishing village of Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard through the old whaling capital of New Bedford and on to the fishing grounds of Georges Bank, two hundred miles out in the Atlantic. As generations of his ancestors have done before him, Captain Gregory Mayhew takes his sons Todd and Jeremy as his crew, along with soundman Steven Dufala.

The film creatively weaves poignant interviews with family members and Menemsha fishermen into a visually stunning tale of the sea, while enveloping us with a haunting soundtrack developed solely from the natural sounds of the sea and from the boat itself.

*If the National Park remains closed due to the government shutdown, the films will be screened at the Fishing Heritage Center. Check out our website and social media pages for more updates.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center