A Day on the Water with Freddie

Today was a long déjà vous of my fishing days. Almost 7 years have passed since I signed on with Cap full-time in Nov 2009. I have come full circle, around the outer rim of Georges Bank and back. I’ve landed about half an hour from my home port. I now work just 2 peninsulas to the westward in Boothbay Harbor. Even as coordinator of the state’s lobster monitoring program I still find my head in the bait barrel. As it was today, in a barrel of salted pogies.

One perk to my job is that I get to assign trips to lobster samplers, including myself. So, naturally, I claimed my home port to cover for lobster sampling. This weekend I called a few of my local fisherman friends and, sure enough, Freddie said he’d be pleased to take me fishing today.

When I pulled into the parking lot at the town landing at 5am, my first familiar thought was wondering if I’d be able to pick out the captain and boat in the dark. But there was Freddie on his boat on the mooring. I gathered my sampling gear and headed for the dock. Sure 'nough, in pulled Cap right behind me! When I approached him in the dark, hoping not to startle him, he was waffling on whether it was worth burning the fuel to get to his traps when he wasn’t going to find much in them. I recognized his contemplative stalling. I gave him a big hello and a firm handshake. He seemed surprised and pleased to see me.

Freddie greeted me with his familiar thick Maine drawl “Hey girrrrrl!” He ran up to carry my basket of gear down the ramp even though I could get it. His first remark was (still) that he didn’t see a diamond on my hand yet. The comment cuts a little more at age 31 than it did at age 21, but I know it’s well-intended. He wants me to find a good man who will take care of me.

Freddie and I had a great day of catching up. He goes single-handed, so I acted as his sternlady for the day, measuring lobsters and making relevant notes as I worked. I filled bait bags, baited the traps, measured and banded lobsters just like the good ol’ days. Except this time I was a scientist collecting biological data as well as a sternlady. At one point during the day, Freddie’s friend pulled up alongside us to chat and Joe asked if I was a sternlady (yes, he used that word) or an observer. And I enthusiastically said “Both!” Joe replied “Good for you,” smiling at my enthusiasm no doubt. I was enthusiastic, because the position fulfills both my love of working on the water as well as my intellectual needs. It’s a nice blend of science and fishing.

Another local friend, Craig, called Freddie on the radio, curious to see another body on Freddie's boat. I saw Craig’s boat off by Pond Island and was amazing that he spotted me on the deck from that distance. Not even the slightest change gets by fisherman. Freddie explained that it was me and that I was “working like hell.” Craig said “Oh, yeah, and she’s a good-looking girl too!” Even though I’m not married and popping out kids, at least I'm still considered an eligible bachelorette. 

9:00 am rolled around and Freddie presented me with a nutty bar and gingerale that I adamantly refused since it was his lunch, but he said he’d be offended if I didn’t eat them, so I obliged. We are equal parts stubborn, but offending a friend is my limit (and he knew it). Then noon approached and he kicked the boat out of gear, producing an extra bologne sandwich and another soda for me. He brought twice his usual food to share with me! I couldn’t say no, but insisted that he have some birthday cake that my mom packed for me. We had quite a feast.

All aspects of the day were familiar including the soul-soothing views of a clear summer day in The Sound and the thrill when Freddie declared the long day as over. We steamed into the harbor straight to the dock where Fred’s brother bought our lobsters, greeting and leaving us with a friendly nod and choosing his few words well. Freddie wanted to give me some lobsters to take home if he couldn’t pay me for the day and I had the valid protestation that the state doesn’t condone gifts. I calmed him by accepting some cucumbers that he grew. He then insisted on carrying my basket back up to the truck and we greeted his parents who were parked at the landing watching the goings on of their sons as they do every day. Not a bad way to pass time.

Thank God that some things never change. Life has a way of working out just fine.

Full Circle

It's hard to believe that it was six years ago that I was lobstering by day and writing this blot by night. A lot has happened in the past six years: a Master's degree, a life on Cape Cod, becoming a PhD student and, lately, returning home to midcoast Maine to continue my career. And yet so little has changed.

Lo and behold, today I found myself back aboard Cap's boat. This time I was a sternlady in a different capacity: a scientist. Surely my role didn't appear any different. I was wearing my lobster uniform: ripped sweatshirt with my dad's old wool fishing coat over it, ragged ball cap with ponytail protruding and orange oilers. I was still handling bait on occasion and measuring lobsters. The lobster buyer even mistook me for a second deckhand when we docked and I helped unload the catch.

Yet my role today was as an observer. I cringe to use that term since it conjures the controversial role of federal observers. Instead, my position is to monitor the lobster population in state waters. I have no business with policy or enforcement and I intend to keep it that way. But my job is truly to observe. "That's what scientists do, after all," my father pointed out matter-of-factly when I expressed my discomfort with the term. "They observe things."

I tried to help out Cap's sternman throughout the day when I finished measuring lobsters. Cap has had the same sternman since I left. And he likely has the same phone number as the one scribbled on the scrap of paper that I handed Cap on my last day. His strong back, quick muscle memory and attention to detail proved that he has carried out the job excellently. It was reassuring to see that Cap has such good help.

I literally came full circle. As the lobster boats pirouette around buoys all day long, I feel that we haven't moved forward much. In some sense I'm right where I started and yet I've made some progress toward my goal. I'm attempting to bridge the gap between science and industry -- between study and practice, between observation and application -- through collaborative research. Cap's boat is a great place to start. But my efforts will extend far beyond that familiar deck, north to the Canadian border and south to the New Hampshire line. I'll be working with many other Caps from here on out. And I look forward to the adventures that this job will bring. I think I'm ready for it. I'm right where I should be.

Shrimp Radio Show

Here's the radio show Coastal Conversations on the shrimp fishery that I was interviewed on January 22, 2016: http://archives.weru.org/coastal-conversations/2016/01/coastal-conversations-12216/