Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

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  • 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.

Interviewee Collection Sort ascending Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
William Kirk Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

William Kirk, born in 1947, is a lifelong resident of Rockland, Maine. He is the first member of his family to work in the fishing industry, having entered the lobstering fishery independently in 1967 to supplement his income from working at a clothing factory in town. Despite the significant increase in the cost of bait and other operating costs over the years, Kirk continues to actively lobster, selling his lobsters locally throughout his career. He has two sons, one of whom works with him in the lobstering business while the other works for a fishing company.

Cameron Thompson Rockland, ME University of Maine
Leonard E. Young III Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

Interview with fisherman Leonard E. Young, III, born September 9, 1944 in Bar Harbor, Maine. Young describes his entry into the commercial fisheries and discusses both lobstering and groundfish fishing.
 

Sara Randall, Mike Kersula Bar Harbor, ME University of Maine
Gary Libby Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

Interview with Gary Libby of Port Clyde, ME. Libby was born in Thomaston on April 26, 1958. born in Camden. Lives in Port Clyde, ME. Gary has served on shrimp and groundfish Advisory Panels and on a forage fish group as well. He grew up in Thomaston and started digging clams at 12 years of age. His father purchased a groundfish boat and Gary began to work aboard ship. He has also worked in scallops and aboard trip vessels, dragging for groundfish. He worked on deck for a number of years while fishing with his brother.

Cameron Thompson Port Clyde, ME University of Maine
Lynn Bowden Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

Lynn Bowman was born on December 20, 1938, in Eastport, Maine. She is a third-generation Eastporter who lived in the city until her high school graduation. Like many young people from Eastport, she moved away after graduation to pursue opportunities in larger cities. She relocated to Portland, where she lived for approximately forty-eight years. During her career, Bowman worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and she is now retired. In her youth, she was involved in the fisheries, working in a factory during the summer when she was fifteen.

Anna Henry Eastport, ME University of Maine
Hollis Matthews and Wayne Wilcox Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

Hollis Matthews was born in 1925 and has spent the majority of his life in Eastport, Maine. Before his career as a customs officer, Matthews worked in the local fisheries, where he was involved in the processing of fish for various uses such as canning, fishmeal, pet foods, and scales. He retired from his customs officer position in 1990. Matthews is also known for his extensive collection of photographs, many of which were given to him by members of the community. Wayne Wilcox was born in 1954 and, like Matthews, was born and raised in Eastport, Maine.

Anna Henry Eastport, ME University of Maine
Dan Miller Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience in Maine Fishing Communities

Dan W. Miller, born in 1949, in Waterville, Maine, is a seasoned commercial fisherman with a rich history in the industry. He began his fishing career at a young age, obtaining his own lobstering license and boat at around seven years old. His commercial fishing journey started in the early 1970s. Despite not coming from a fishing family, Miller grew up in Cape Porpoise, a small harbor fishing community in Southern Maine, which is part of the town of Kennebunkport. He is a first-generation Mainer, with his father hailing from New Jersey and his mother from Massachusetts.

Sara Randall Tenants Harbor, ME University of Maine