Allison Wilson
Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities
This project developed a participatory, place-based approach for assessing the vulnerability and resilience of Maine fishing communities, documenting threats and resources available to respond to those threats. To understand the forces driving vulnerability, Johnson and graduate students Cameron Thompson and Anna Henry worked with community stakeholders to identify opportunities and strategies for improving resilience of fishing communities. They produced a summary report, entitled, “In Their Own Words: Fishermen’s Perspectives of Community Resilience.”
Once upon a time, Maine fishermen and women harvested a diversity of species, from groundfish and herring to lobsters, clams, shrimp, and scallops, depending on market conditions and resource abundance. Today, Maine’s fishing culture is concentrated in 50 coastal communities and is overwhelmingly dependent on lobster, while regulations have restricted other fisheries. Since 1990, the number of vessels landing groundfish in Maine dropped from 350 to 70. At least 72 groundfish permits have been lost, and dramatic changes in management are imminent, leading Johnson to wonder, “How vulnerable are Maine’s fishing communities? What can be done to improve their resiliency to future change?”
These are the questions that federal fisheries managers must ask when assessing the impact of new rules, yet too often they don’t have the right data to answer the questions. This project developed a participatory, place-based approach for assessing the vulnerability and resilience of Maine fishing communities, documenting threats and resources available to respond to those threats. To understand the forces driving vulnerability, Johnson and graduate students Cameron Thompson and Anna Henry worked with community stakeholders to identify opportunities and strategies for improving resilience of fishing communities.
National Capital Contracting
Allison Wilson Jr. was born in 1931, in Rockland. He has lived in Port Clyde, Maine, for almost eighty-one years, with twenty-four of those years spent in his current residence at 98 Horse Point Road. Wilson comes from a family with roots in Nova Scotia, with his ancestors having migrated to Port Clyde, where they built a log cabin before returning to Nova Scotia, and then coming back the following year. He estimates that he is the sixth or seventh generation of his family in the area. Unlike the rest of his family, who have largely moved away, Wilson has always chosen to stay in Port Clyde, a place he loves. He is the only member of his family to have been involved in the fishing industry, a distinction that also sets him apart from his spouse's family, who were not from Port Clyde and had no involvement in fishing. Wilson has four daughters, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, most of whom live in Wisconsin, with one daughter in Virginia, one in Spruce Head, and one great-granddaughter in Warren.
Scope and Content Note
The interview with Allison Wilson Jr. provides a detailed account of his life, family history, and experiences as a fisherman in Port Clyde, Maine. Wilson discusses his family's migration from Nova Scotia and their establishment in Port Clyde, as well as his own decision to remain in the area despite the relocation of many family members. He also shares his unique position as the only member of his family to have been involved in the fishing industry, a career that neither his immediate family nor his spouse's family pursued. Wilson provides information about his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, most of whom reside outside of Maine. In addition to his personal and family history, Wilson also shares his views on the fishing community, emphasizing the hard work and potential of the fleet, the importance of mutual aid among neighbors, and the broader industry that supports fishing, including mechanics, boat builders, and marinas. He also underscores the importance of safety measures, such as the coast guard and rescue helicopters, in the fishing industry.
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