By Sheila Dassatt
In 1975 the first Fishermen’s Forum was established. It was formed in discussions between Bailey Island fisherman Bob Green and University of Maine Economist Jim Wilson and was funded by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program. This was part of a program that Jim Wilson and Robin Alden who was formerly the editor of Commercial Fisheries News and former Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The Forum was a big success with the Sea Grant running it until 1982 and turned it over to the industry. “In 1984, the Maine Fishermen’s Forum was incorporated as a non-profit organization dedicated to perpetuating the annual Forum as an educational event for Maine fishing communities.” This quote came from the Forum site that gives a brief history of how it all began. A lot of folks attend the Forum but don’t really know how it all began. After a successful 50 years, we all should know the history and what it is all about.
I have had the privilege of being on the Forum Board since 2004 when I became the Secretary/Treasurer of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association. Since that time, I was the Secretary of the Forum Board for quite a while. I have actually lost track of the years, because it was quite a while and it was a pleasure to do it and sit on the Executive Board as well.
This is all of the formal background information that I can give you, but Mike and I actually started as exhibitors at the Forum. In 1988, I worked the Hamilton Marine booth with the crew at Hamilton Marine. This was when Belinda Doliber and Ben were at the helm as Director and organizer. Belinda and Ben were from Swans Island and were a pleasure to work with. A few years later, Mike and I had a booth ourselves as Mid Coast Trap Company. This was when our daughter was around ten years old. You might say that she grew up attending the Forum every year! At that time, there was a lot of fishing families, with a lot of kids attending and having a ball!
The basic plan was for the Forum to be a Cabin Fever Reliever for the fishermen and their families, so there was a lot of kids there from Vinalhaven and surrounding fishing communities. There was really quite a family atmosphere there at the time.
My family also had a booth which made it a true family atmosphere. It seemed that we had a whole block of booths that were boat builders. My family was Holland’s Boat Shop, and we neighbored with Vin and Vid Young which was a hoot! Across from us was Otis Enterprises, Brooks Trap Mill and Bill Larsen with the Grunden’s booth.
I am mentioning these folks because a lot of them have passed away and we don’t want them to be forgotten. Another great friend was Ray Cronk with the C. E. Shepard booth which represented lobster trap wire. Ray was a great friend and also hosted the Maine Lobster Boat races as a sponsor and had his boat “For Play” at the races which he and Brian Robbins rode around in to cover the races. It was always a great time!
We can’t forget Harlan Billings at the Billings Diesel Marine booth from Stonington.
He was always there with a beautiful display of their varnish work on their company sign. We also remember Chris Anderson, the owner of Friendship Trap Company that passed suddenly in 2020. He was a very kind and generous man. Now we see the Wadsworth Brothers who stepped into place running the trap operation, Mark, Mike and Jerry. We have been at shows with these guys since we started in the 80”s! That’s a lot of years of shows and trap building! They are all great guys and it’s always a lot of fun.
It was always a pleasure to work with the Young Family, Chilloa, Mike and Loalee. They all are part of a fishing family and ran the Forum for a long time. Chilloa’s Uncle Rick Albertson was on the Board of Directors when I was on it and was always a pleasure. I also remember the time that we gave Meredith Mendelson a baby shower at our January meeting, as she was also on the Board of Directors. These are just a few of the great memories that we had over the years. We also had what we called the “Decompression Chamber” which was a session where you could go and relax, bring your instrument and strum along with one another. Brian Robbins, Paul Anderson and Mike used to sit there a strum a tune. With all of the hype of the sessions, it was good to sit and listen to the music and play along if you wanted to. It was an open microphone.
We had our ups and downs, but is was and is the only venue at the time where lobstermen, draggermen and fishermen of all walks of the industry could come together and have a good time and great camaraderie. Of course, there were some differences, but it was always maintained and contained by the Samoset and Directors.
Over the past 50 years, it has really grown, the attendance as well as many exhibitors that are there to share in the festivities. We hope that this year will be a banner year for all that attend and we can be able to look over some history of the Forum from then to now. We have seen an entire generation or two grow up attending this venue!
Let’s look forward to having the Forum continue to be a meeting place for friends and families alike. I am still on the Board after 20 years and hope that we have been able to have a positive effect on all that have attended over the years. I will see you there!
