When Maine’s lobster industry looks back on 2022, we’ll likely remember the challenges — high bait and fuel prices, low dock prices, shortages of marine supplies, and a complicated legal challenge that threatens to end the fishery as we know it. But we’ll also remember the many heartwarming times when people and communities came together, just as they did in the Harpswell, Orr’s and Bailey islands region in early November.
A special thanks to Monique Coombs and her team of dedicated volunteers who organized a successful event, “All Hands on Deck,” to celebrate our important lobster industry and to discuss how and why communities need to come together to preserve our lobstering heritage. Working together, this community raised nearly $10,000 that will directly benefit the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s effort to protect the industry for future generations.
We all know just how important the lobster industry is to the Harpswell region and to so many other small communities up and down Maine’s coast. Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in “All Hands on Deck,” we can look forward to a new year when we are confident the opportunities for success will outweigh any challenges we may face. Thank you.
Kevin Kelley, Director of Advancement, Maine Lobstermen’s Association
