Valerie Peacock, an education consultant and head of the Eastern Maine Skippers Program from Bar Harbor, ME, speaks about how she came to love the ocean and fishing communities, her background working in the fishing communities of Bar Harbor, and her concern about Maine communities losing a sense of the cultural value of fishing.

Dana Morse, from Walpole, ME, describes his work at his day job as an extension agent for Maine Sea Grant and his side job as an oyster farmer on the New Meadows River. He tells the story of the past six years—and four boats—of Nice Oyster Company and how getting involved in the industry has changed his role at Maine Sea Grant. He shares his vision for the future of aquaculture in Maine, where capture and culture industries can work together.

Parker Gassett, a University of Maine graduate student who lives in Camden, ME, talks about a values-based approach to science and citizen science, and describes his graduate work on getting water quality tools to community members along the coast of Maine. He explains the reasons he developed a sense of place around the Maine coast, how that’s been shaped by time away, and what he sees changing in these special communities.

Kyle Pepperman, a marine biologist at the Downeast Institute in Jonesboro, ME, spoke about the work of DEI, his experience there from summer intern to now more than a decade of employment, how hatcheries could help vulnerable shellfish populations, and his hopes for the future of aquaculture in Maine.

A graduate student from Martha's Vineyard, MA, Ali Berlow is studying how the role of Atlantic herring has changed in the U.S. food system. She came to the Forum to ask fishermen for their perspectives and talks about her findings as well as how she connects marine fisheries to her work in local-regional food systems and how eaters can support fishermen.

Sonya Corbett, a trap-maker with Sea Rose Trap Company in South Portland, ME, speaks about being a woman in the lobster industry, her transition to trap-making, her involvement with Portland political organizing, and her love for the industry.