Phoebe Jekielek, an education program leader on Hurricane Island, ME, speaks about the realities and importance of working with students on Hurricane Island. She discusses changes she has observed through her years of work and the successes and challenges of aquaculture in education.

Voices of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum 2018 is a project of Maine Sea Grant, The First Coast, College of the Atlantic, and the Island Institute, with support from the Maine Fishermen’s Forum Board of Directors.

Pike Bartlett, born on February 3, 1951, is a prominent figure in the lobster trap industry. Originally from Massachusetts, he relocated to Friendship, Maine, in 1973. His personal interests revolve around outdoor activities such as skiing, sailing, and motorcycling. As the president and owner of the Friendship Trap Company, Bartlett has played a pivotal role in the company's success since its establishment in 1977. The company specializes in the production of lobster traps, utilizing rolls of wire and bales of mesh to craft durable and efficient traps for fishermen.

Randy Bushey, an elver buyer and fisherman, describes his role in the industry and the politics of elver fishing in Downeast Maine. The interview includes opinions on federal regulations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and eel behavior and biology. Bushey discusses his attempts to import eels from Caribbean island nations.

Randy Cushman is a fifth-generation fisherman from Port Clyde, Maine, with a rich family history in the fishing industry. His family's involvement in fishing spans several generations, with numerous relatives, including his three brothers, nephew, grandfather, great uncles, and great-grandfather, all having been fishermen. Cushman's family lineage traces back to Robert Cushman and his son Thomas, who were among the passengers on the Mayflower. However, the family's fishing roots began with Apollos Cushman, the first family member to settle in Maine, specifically in Bremen.

Richard A. Whitman is a seasoned fisherman with deep roots in Rockland, Maine, where he has spent his entire life of 48 years. Born into a family with Italian and Sicilian heritage, Whitman's connection to the sea and fishing is a product of both his lineage and his environment. From a young age, he was drawn to the waters that have long provided sustenance and livelihood to the people of Rockland. Over the years, Whitman has gained extensive experience in various sectors of the fishing industry, mastering techniques for catching herring, salmon, scallop, lobster, and shrimp.

Richard Bridges is a seasoned commercial fisherman from Stonington, Maine. He began his fishing career at a young age, setting 150 traps when he was just seven years old, alongside his best friend who was eight at the time. His family, originally from Swan's Island, moved to Connecticut for work during the war but returned to Maine when Bridges was born, believing it was a better place for a boy to grow up. Bridges started groundfishing commercially in 1964, and gill-netted out of Stonington from 1974 until 1984.

Richard Langton grew up north of Boston. He studied at Northeastern University and later earned his Master's degree and Ph.D. in marine biology at the University College of North Wales in the United Kingdom. Langton completed a post-doc aquaculture project in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was then hired by the Federal government at Woods Hole. He worked in Maine as the Bureau Director of the lab in Boothbay Harbor and started a non-profit company in Tobago. He returned to work for the NMFS again at Sandy Hook and is editor of Fishery Bulletin.

Richard Nelson is a retired lobsterman out of Friendship, ME. He moved to Maine to continue a musical instrument repair business, but the ocean view from the window of his shop called him out onto the water. He tells the story of how he started out helping and learning from a long-time lobsterman while slowly building up his own equipment and credibility in the community.

In this interview, alewife harvester Rick Welch reflects on the Downeast Maine alewife fishery. The interview contains his thoughts on the effects of dams, the desirability of alewives as lobster bait and the difference between alewives and blueback herring.

Robert Dyer was born on August 4, 1931 on Chebeague Island in Casco Bay.  He worked as a stop seiner, lobsterman and cannery worker for much of his life in the Portland and Casco Bay areas.  He is a cousin of Bruce Dyer of Cliff Island who also sat for a recording.  As of this interview in 2013, Robert was still living on Chebeague Island and in Yarmouth.  Interview contains discussions of: stop seining, herring canneries, bait prices, sardine prices, locations for stop seining, whale encounters, life on Chebeague Island, purse seining, carriers, bailing and pumping herr