Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
http://fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca/
Visit Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
Contact Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic interprets the history of the offshore and inshore fisheries in Atlantic Canada. Go aboard an actual Banks schooner, Theresa E. Connor, and the steel-hulled side-trawler Cape Sable. There’s a film theatre, the Millennium Aquarium where students can see living saltwater and freshwater fish, and exhibits on topics such as the inshore fisheries, rum running, Bluenose, shipbuilding, sail making, Community Life, Marine Artist Earl Bailly, Camp Norway, Fishermen’s Memorial Room, Whaling and Whales, Marine Engines, the Grand Banks fisheries with excellent vessel models, as well as a boat shop, Shucking House, and the Cape North wheelhouse.
Enjoy regular demonstrations of heritage skills of the fisherman: bait-bag making, sailmaking techniques, knitting, quilting, knot tying, trawl rigging, net mending and lobster trap construction. The very popular launch of a model schooner takes place several times daily.
68 Bluenose Drive, Lunenburg
Tel: 902 634 4794
Fax: 902 634 8990
Open during the off-season by appointment
$3 admission for school students; drivers & chaperones free of charge
Services
Museum Shop, restaurant, picnic tables on wharf, wheelchair accessible washrooms, elevator, parking for buses.
For information on school group lunch packages, contact The Old Fish Factory restaurant at 902-634-3333 or 800-533-9336
General Tours
A general tour of the Museum requires two to three hours. A schedule for a shorter tour of the site will be provided to chaperones with school groups.
School Programs
To book classes at the Museum, please contact Laurie Smith or Hilda Russell between May 9 and October 15, or Ralph Getson during the off-season at 634-4794. Call early to reserve a date of visit and your call will be returned in early May, to finalize school program bookings. Book early to avoid disappointment.
School activities are an important part of the public programming at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. We recommend that teachers book their classes as soon as possible. Please note that the programs can be adapted to many grade levels and have been thoroughly revised during the past several years. Activities take approximately one hour and include:
Learn about our local Canadian icon, Bluenose and what it says about our local culture. Possibly participate in a re-enactment of the launching of Bluenose. What is the connection between Bluenose and a potato?
Step aboard our flag ship Theresa E. Connor and take a walk back in time. Learn how fishermen of the past tackled the rough North Atlantic environment and what technologies and adaptations they used to deal with the harsh sea life. Look for “blood-ends” and “fish eyes” on the menu.
Students get to investigate the lobster up close and personal. Learn about it’s life cycle and it’s relationship with it’s habitat. Find out how to measure and band a lobster. Did you know that the lobster trap of today works exactly the same as a lobster trap from 100 years ago? What technologies have changed in the lobster fishery? Did you know that lobsters have invisible blood?
Discover how most whales migrate to meet their needs in their marine environment. Find out how fishing vessels impact the whale’s habitat. Learn about the whale’s life cycle. What is the relationship between a blue whale and a Volkswagen bug?
This method of fishing is a wonderful example of how fishermen adapted to their environment. Learn about this ancient aboriginal technique of catching herring. Students will have a chance to form a human weir and then get to sample some herring. What part of herring is contained in some lip glosses?
All Grade Levels
Welcome aboard our retired side trawler the Cape Sable. Learn about the fishing technology of the 1960's to the 1980's. See what daily life working aboard a fishing trawler entailed and how, in turn, life would also be different for the families left at home. Read about the amazing bell story in the wheelhouse.
Adaptable Grade 4+
Find out how the scallop changes as it progresses through it’s life cycle. What technologies are used to catch scallops? Learn about the scallop’s habitat and the relationship they have with the environment. How many eyes does a scallop have?
Adaptable Grade 6+
Are you ready to walk back in time and pledge an oath of allegiance to the Temperance Movement? Explore the era of Prohibition in our Canadian history. Why did so many Lunenburg fishermen become involved with rum running? Learn why some believed an eel in a bottle of alcohol was a good thing.
These programs are intended for high school students and ideally for those in an oceanography course. We offer three different workshops in this section:
Navigation Basics
Driving a boat is like driving a car but with a whole lot more regulations. Learn about some of the basic buoys and how they are the traffic lights and road signs of the waterways. Find out who has the right of way; the motored boat or the sail boat, the big boat or the small boat? In this workshop you will also get the opportunity to plot a line on a course. Time permitting you can then take the students aboard our retired fish dragger, Cape Sable and look at its navigational equipment and how it is different than what the boats use today.
Length: 60 min. (Cape Sable not included) / 90 min. (Cape Sable included)
Why Do Oceans Move?
Discover how the ocean’s movements are generated by either primary or secondary forces. This workshop starts off with a brief power point that lays down the foundation of why the ocean moves. Then the students jump into hands on interaction activities: Cold Water Meets Warm Water, The Wind Challenge, The Current Tango, and The Fundy’s Funnel.
Length: 60 min.
A Closer Look Under The Sea
Discover many of the fascinating features of the underwater world. We will cover the three ocean’s zones, ocean’s seabeds, and the submarine canyon, The Gully. The workshop begins with a twenty minute power point presentation. Then the students divide into teams and challenge each other with the Ocean Zone Challenge and the Seabed Puzzle Challenge.
Length: 60 min.
