On July 11, 2024, the Harpswell Select Board adopted a “Right To Fish” policy which codified the rights of fishermen/women to ply their trade. I, for one, was left dumbfounded by this notion that men and women moving to Harpswell were unaware of the fact that the very community they were living in was built on, and continues to thrive off, the labor of our hard-working men and women on and offshore.

Not only was I perplexed by the initial dissent that individuals moving to town were perturbed by the “audacity” of our fishing fleet that they would complain about the noise of their motors, but that they would also meet the fishing fleet with disgust of the fact they might want to also bait their traps – and the resulting smell.

These are the issues we face in Maine – and the public at-large needs to be aware that fishermen are marginalized day in, and day out, by the public (see the above issue) as well as NOAA or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it should not stand.

I for one am sick and tired of these faux issues, these half-baked ideas on how to “save the fisheries.” Who is standing up for the working men and women of Maine?

I will continue to stand up for our longest standing trade, I will fight tooth and nail for our fishermen and women – and so should others.

Andrew Piantidosi
Cape Elizabeth