That “someone else” turned out to be their wives.
In 1977 after the Magnuson Act was passed, Robin Alden, then a member of
the New England Fisheries Management Council, called a meeting of a small
group of fishermen’s wives, including Gail Johnson of Harpswell, Blazon and
Brenda Tetrault from Portland and Mary Ann Bradford of Cumberland Foreside.
The Maine Fishermen’s Wives Association grew out of this initial gathering.
“It was just after the Magnuson Act was implemented,” says Johnson, “and
we realized that the law that was intended to manage fish actually meant
managing us fishermen. The New England Council, one of eight set up by the
act, had no more experience than anybody else in figuring out how to manage
fish, and they took their cues from Europe and put quotas on the fishery, not
thinking about how it is multi-species in nature — that a net brings up all sorts of
fish. We formed MFWA to educate ourselves about what was going on and to
educate the Council on the realities of fishing.”
Henceforth, MFWA was represented at every New England Council meeting
and nearly every meeting of the groundfish committee. “We were so busy trying
to work with the fishery political system we didn’t have any officers or formal
organization for a year,” she says.
The group organized letter-writing campaigns to the regional council director,
the Secretary of Commerce and to elected representatives in Washington. They
studied drafts of management plans and transcripts of meetings, discussed them
with their husbands, and at council meetings, made comments which
represented fishermen’s needs and concerns. “We’d try to pick our arguments,”
says Johnson, who served as a member of the Council from 1985 to 1991. “It’s
all so extremely complicated, with so many variations among gear types and
fishing in different areas.”
“When I was younger, I never would have believed I would have gotten
involved in all this political process,” she says. “It’s amazing what necessity will
do to you and for you.”
Maggie Raymond, secretary of MFWA and Executive Director of the
Associated Fisheries of Maine Groundfish Group since 1994, says MFWA has
generally focused on the safety aspects of rules and regulations covering
groundfishing. “It’s important to understand that MFWA supports reasonable
regulations to protect spawning areas near shore and believes in sound
conservation,” she says, “but at the same time, they want people to understand
that some closures can force their husbands to fish in areas further offshore that
they are not equipped to be in. Or, that when fishing days are severely limited,
people whose only source of income is groundfish will have to do more fishing in
winter, when prices are higher.”
MFWA has continuously worked with the Coast Guard and a number of task
forces to address safety issues of particular concern to commercial fishermen.
Yvette Alexander of Cundy’s Harbor, who has been part of MFWA for 18
years and has served as co-president with Carol Alexander since 1996, says she
became aware that if her husband , Lendall Alexander, Jr., was going to stay in
the fishing business, she would have to become involved and know what was
going on. Like other members of MFWA, Alexander runs the shore side of her
husband’s business and is busy raising their family, but that doesn’t prevent her
from serving on several advisory boards and attending hours and hours of
meetings. “We really don’t have a choice,” she says. “You can’t have rules and
regulations made without representation.”
In addition to staying on top of the regulatory process, Alexander has helped
the 40 or so members of MWFA, who are scattered from Bar Harbor to South
Berwick, and network with other fishermen’s wives along the entire coast,
develop projects to educate the public about the fishing industry. They have
given programs about the nutritional values, preparation and handling of fish;
they have educated people about underutilized species, they have worked to
raise public awareness that fishing is a family business and promoted events that
unify the fishing community. In 1986, to raise money, they published the “MFWA
Seafood Cookbook,” a comprehensive guide for using all types of seafood.
In 1999 and 2000, in partnership with Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI), MFWA
presented Fish Fridays in the Portland Public Market. “We picked a species to
highlight every month,” says Alexander. “People could taste different recipes,
and we gave them information about using the species and also about the rules
and regulations governing it. Different fishing boats sponsored each Friday. We
showed photos of the fishermen and boats and the family connected with it. It
was a great way for the general public to see who is catching their fish and the
family behind it.” MFWA members also have appeared at fairs, festivals and
other public events to heighten public awareness of Maine seafood.
Alexander and Raymond collaborated during the past five years with
Elizabeth Sheehan at CEI to produce an annual fish poster which provides
information about the importance of the fishing industry to Maine’s economy and
the status of specific species. It urges residents to support Maine’s working
waterfront by purchasing Maine seafood. The poster is distributed to members of
the legislature, the Maine delegation in Washington, schools and every
municipality on the coast.
“It’s been a great way to remind Maine citizens of the importance of the
fishing industry to the economy,” says Sheehan. “And that it’s about food and
families, not just a boat.”
Recently, Sheehan asked Alexander to join an advisory group that will
conduct a study on changes in waterfront access in 25 coastal communities, a
project CEI contracted with the State Planning Office. “We asked Yvette to
participate because we want people who have industry insight as well as
experience participating in planning issues in the community,” says Sheehan.
(Alexander also serves on the Harpswell comprehensive Plan Economic Base
Committee, which encompasses waterfront access.)
As part of the study, town managers or selectmen and harbormasters will be
asked this summer to fill out a questionnaire about access. “No one has
monitored the gain or loss of working waterfront,” Sheehan says. “After the
questionnaires come in, we hope to be able to tell how many total access points
there were in each town in past years, and now, what percent fewer there are.
We’d like to see what help municipalities need to protect remaining access.”
On June 9, for the first time in seven years, MFWA helped organize a
Blessing of the Fleet at the Portland Fish Pier, reviving a former yearly event. “I
felt it was especially important this year,” says Alexander. “It’s one time we get
together that’s not about rules and regulations. It’s a way to boost morale and
strengthen communities.”
The group also sponsors an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the
MFWA Memorial on the Portland Fish Pier.
MFWA has worked closely with the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, often running
seafood cooking demonstrations. At this year’s forum, Alexander helped
organize a day-long Health Insurance Seminar that explored the state of health
care in Maine and offered information about various alternatives that might
provide affordable insurance for fisherman. She believes MFWA will continue to
work with the Forum on health care issues. She also is interested in helping
expand information about regulations at the web site the Forum shares with the
state of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, www.maineseafood.com .
“I strongly believe we need to improve education and communication among
fishermen about the regulatory process,” she says. “It’s an ongoing process.
Even now, with the present groundfish crisis, there are people who do not
understand what’s going on. I’d like us to put summaries in plain language on the
web site about what’s happening.”
Like many other members of MFWA, Alexander and her husband come from
longtime fishing families. “My husband and I grew up with the ethic that if you
wanted to do well in your life, you worked hard,” she says. “The first year we
were married, he was gone 254 days. He was determined to do well. But now,
with the new rules, most of us who depend on groundfishing alone have less
than six to eight days a month to make a living. You’re not going to make a living
on that.”
Through MFWA, she will continue to be an advocate for the industry. “I am
passionately, personally involved,” she says. “I believe in my husband and I
believe in his work.”
Blazon, who has been with the group since the beginning, says she thinks
the greatest accomplishment of MFWA is the network it established and the way
members have increased visibility of and respect for the fishing industry. “It’s
become a very vocal and well-known group in the state of Maine and is looked
on with respect by representatives and our delegation,” she says. “When
something happens, one of the first groups people call on is the MFWA.”
To order “Maine Fishermen’s Wives Association Seafood Cookbook,” send
$10 plus $2.95 postage and handling to 307 Cundy’s Harbor Rd., Harpswell, ME
04079.