Patrick Keliher, Commission of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, will be the keynote speaker at 70th annual meeting of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, March 1, at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, in Rockport.

The Fishermen’s Forum, now in its 49th year, begins Thursday, Feb. 29, with seminars and the trade show, and continues through Saturday, culminating with an annual dance.

The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is a three-day annual event held over the first weekend in March at the Samoset Resort. The Forum brings together fishermen, sea farmers, gear suppliers, state and federal scientists and regulators, and other stakeholders for education, collaboration, commerce, and more. The trade show and seminars are free to attend.

Members of the Lobstermen’s Association will convene at 9 a.m., Friday, March 1, for their annual meeting at the Forum and to hear keynote speaker Keliher.

Commissioner Keliher is charged with conserving and developing Maine’s marine resources and coastal fishing industries, and working to advise local, state, and federal officials concerning activities in coastal waters, according to the Governor’s website.

“Keliher, a native of Gardiner, previously worked as a registered Maine hunting guide and charter boat captain,” his biography reads. “He also served as Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine, the Executive Director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, and Acting Commissioner of the Marine Resources Department before being appointed to serve as Maine's Department of Marine Resources Commissioner in 2012. He was re-appointed by Governor Mills in 2019.”

For seven decades, the MLA has shaped the fishery that lobstermen know today. Founded in 1954, the MLA was the first organization to bring working lobstermen together to collaborate on solutions to problems the industry faces. It has since become their strongest advocate at the local, state, and federal level. Today, the MLA is the oldest fishing organization on the East Coast.

“Maine lobstermen, and the $1 billion industry that depends on them, continue to face unprecedented uncertainty in the years ahead that could threaten this centuries-old fishery,” the MLA said, in a news release. “The MLA, however, continues to be the industry’s toughest champion. Last year, its work resulted in a historic appeals court victory that will force the federal government to go back to the drawing board and develop a new plan to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale before the end of 2028 that does not skew the science and over-regulate lobstermen.”

The Fishermen’s Forum is the largest of its kind in New England, one that is dedicated to offering fishermen, clammers, lobstermen, aquaculturists and other related seafood industry participants an opportunity to meet on neutral ground with fisheries managers, state representatives, Congressmen and Senators.

Learn more: https://mainefishermensforum.org