Last Fish, First Boat : Classroom Edition

Welcome to the elementary classroom edition of “Last Fish, First Boat,” about a fisherman who becomes a boat-builder when the fishery closes. The story is based on a chapter from the book, “Cod Collapse: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland’s Saltwater Cowboys.” This class will cover a range of subjects from human geography to history to environmental science and more. At its core, this story is about making your way in a world that has changed overnight.

“Last Fish, First Boat was exceptional! The students and teachers at St. Peter’s Academy thoroughly enjoyed the visually engaging and interactive presentation while guest presenters, Jenn and Kat, demonstrated a wealth of knowledge about the NL Cod Moratorium in what is a unique and relaxed style of presentation. It was quite evident that Jenn and Kat enjoyed interacting with students as they patiently listened to student’s stories and provided thought provoking questions to assess student’s historical knowledge and opinions about a significant event in NL’s history that is oftentimes forgotten.”

– Brad Lambe, Social Studies Teacher, St. Peter’s Academy, Benoit’s Cove, NL

What you’ll find on this page:

  • Summary of the film

  • Sample class schedule with agenda and slides

  • Additional resources and custom downloads for teachers

  • Sample behind the scenes imagery of the film-making process

Jenn Thornhill Verma and Kat Frick Miller are looking forward to joining your class. If you have questions, please connect with us.

If you share “Last Fish, First Boat” in your class and wish to share some of your class reflections, please do so using the hashtags #lastfishfirstboat or #codcollapse.

About:

We meet Eugene Maloney at the age 87-years-old, living in Bay Bulls, Newfoundland and Labrador.

He spent his whole life fishing—just like his father and his father’s father and so on down the Maloney family line.

But then, one day, Gene returns home for dinner (what Newfoundlanders call lunch) and his wife asks, “Don’t you know the fishery is closed?”

“I didn’t know,” says Gene, “Just like that, that was the end of it.”

Too many fisherman were fishing too few fish—that’s what the Canadian government said when they closed the cod fishery in July 1992.

Gene and his crew spent the next week hauling up their fishing gear. They hoped the cod fishery would reopen in a couple of years, but it never did.

Unable to go fishing, Gene started to build boats. Well into his eighties, he continued building wooden boats.

In 2022, the cod moratorium, as the fishery closure is called, marked its thirtieth anniversary.

Photos of Gene Maloney’s boat shed with initial paintings by Kat Frick Miller

Watch the film here:

Storyboard thumbnails used in developing Last Fish, First Boat - Kat Frick Miller

SAMPLE CLASS SCHEDULE

Agenda DOWNLOAD

Presentation Slides DOWNLOAD


Meet the teachers: Ms. Jenn (writer) and Ms. Kat (artist)

Introduction | A child learns the seasons

Icebreaker | What is something you love to do in nature? Why?

Watch “Last Fish, First Boat”

Take a tour behind the scenes OR Name that object

Test your knowledge | Play Kahoot! | Last Fish, First Boat

Spot the difference | How can we fish and look after the ocean?

Closing | A child learns to fish

Bonus content: Watch Alan Doyle’s “Back home on the island”