Written by Michael Shepherd. This was originally published in the Bangor Daily News.
Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said “f—- you” to a man during a Thursday meeting at which fishermen assailed him for a state plan to raise the size limit for lobster.
The heated exchange came on the same day that Keliher withdrew the proposal, which came in response to limits from regional regulators concerned with data showing a 35 percent decrease in lobster population in the state’s biggest fishing area.
It comes on the heels of fights between the storied fishery and the federal government over proposed restrictions on fishing gear that are intended to preserve the population of endangered whales off the East Coast. It was alleviated by a six-year pause on new whale rules negotiated in 2022 by Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation.
“I think this is the right thing to do because the future of the industry is at stake for a lot of different reasons,” Keliher told the fishermen of his now-withdrawn change at a meeting in Augusta on Thursday evening, according to a video posted on Facebook by Brittany O’Neil.
After crosstalk from the crowd, Keliher implored them to listen to him. Then, a man yelled that they don’t have to listen to him because the commission “sold out” to federal regulators and Canada.
“f—- you, I sold out,” Keliher yelled, prompting an angry response from the fishermen.
That’s nice. Foul language in the meeting. Good for you. That’s our commissioner,” a man shouted back.
Keliher apologized to the crowd shortly after making the remark and will try to talk with the man he directed the profanity to, department spokesperson Jeff Nichols said. The commissioner issued a Friday statement saying the remarks came as a result of his passion for the industry and criticisms of his motives that he deemed unfair, he said.
“I remain dedicated to working in support of this industry and will continue to strengthen the relationships and build the trust necessary to address the difficult and complex tasks that lay ahead,” Keliher said.
Mills, a Democrat who unveiled her two-year state budget at a Friday news conference, said she had not addressed Keliher’s remarks with him: “He apologized,” she said.
Lobstermen pushed back in recent meetings against the state’s plan, challenging the underlying data. Now, fishermen can keep lobsters that measure 3.25 inches from eye socket to tail. The proposal would have raised that limit by 1/16 of an inch and would have been the first time the limit was raised in decades.
The department pulled the limit pending a new stock survey, a move that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, hailed in a news release that called the initial proposal “an unnecessary overreaction to questionable stock data.”
Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the largest commercial fishing organization in the state, said it appreciates DMR’s willingness to listen to fishermen’s concerns. MLA declined to comment on Keliher’s exchange with fishermen on Thursday.
“The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has long been opposed to a gauge increase due to concern over the economic impacts on the industry and has called on regulators to provide more time to collect more accurate data on lobster populations,” the group said.
Keliher is Maine’s longest-serving commissioner. He has held his job since former Gov. Paul LePage hired him in 2012. Mills, a Democrat, reappointed the Gardiner native after she took office in 2019. Before that, he was a hunting guide, charter boat captain and ran the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.
BDN writers Billy Kobin and Bill Trotter contributed to this report.