will never forget the first time we heard Archie Fisher sing The Final Trawl... or Stan Rogers' Tiny Fish for Japan.

Mike grew up near Lake Erie and had great respect for the small fishing boats that worked those waters. He eventually wrote a song about them.

FISHERMEN'S SONS

We're the last turtlebacks working out of the harbor, with seine nets, ring nets and trawl
And there are those who will tell you that the fishing is over, but don't look for us working on shore
Where once we were many, but now we are few
We still work the old boats our grandfathers knew
So, we'll let you know when the fishing is done
'Cause we're the sons of fishermen's sons

Work is hard and the hours are long
It's in after dark and out before dawn
If the catch has been good, we'll come in with a song
A song of fishermen's sons

Out off the headlands, the outcrops are standing; guardians carved from the stone
Keeping their vigil, they watch 'or the lakes, down through these many years gone
Stalwart and steadfast, embodied with pride
Resisting the changes of time and the tides
Their faces are lined by the waves and the winds
We say , "They must be fishermen's sons."

The scud from the factories flows out 'or the waters, lining the shores with its foam
We've taken our harvests and never gave back, a blame we must take as our own
Still it's out through the break in the calm or the squall,
Take in the gill nets and let out the tow
Bring in the nets, though the catch may be small
It's a hard time for fishermen's sons   

Interlude:

I've lived all my life here, learned from the waters to read the currents and sky
And changes are needed, well then changes there'll be, we're not here to watch our lakes die
As the gulls of the harbor that circle the beach,
Rise off the headland and call from the reach
As they called to our fathers they call to our sons
Sons of fishermen's sons

Work is hard and the hours are long
It's in after dark and out before dawn
If the catch has been good, we'll come in with a song
A song of fishermen's sons