Over the years, the Maine Fishermen’s Forum has been an important event for me; I go to listen and engage with different stakeholders of the Gulf of Maine. The 2020 Maine Fishermen’s Forum was the last conference I and many others attended before the pandemic shutdown. It was the first weekend in March, and I recall people even then were unsure of offering a handshake or a fist bump.
At the evening seafood reception that year, in a corner near the fresh oysters, a board member of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association remarked to me, “Everyone blames everything on climate change, but they blame the Right Whale on lobstering.”
His remark has remained with me ever since.
