When news broke last weekend that the Trump administration had abruptly pulled all funding from the University of Maine’s Sea Grant program, most fishing community leaders were gathered at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockland. It was the final day of the annual event that’s a combination trade show, business meeting and New Year’s Eve party for the state’s saltiest profession.

By midday, the event was thick with beards, tattoos and Carhartts. As word began to spread, the vibe turned tense. Of the 34 Sea Grant programs operating nationwide, the Department of Government Efficiency team had defunded only one: Maine’s.

By all accounts, the vast majority of Maine’s commercial fishermen supported President Donald Trump, as a quick accounting of bumper stickers on trucks at the forum could confirm. Yet the president they helped elect had determined that programs supporting their communities and businesses were, to quote the termination notice, “no longer relevant to the administration’s priorities.”

How is Maine’s fishing industry supposed to feel about that statement? Even now, with the agreement to restore of at least some of the funding thanks to swift intervention from our congressional delegation and others, anxiety should be high. Is their work suddenly “relevant to the administration’s priorities” again? Doesn’t seem like it.

Consider that in the week prior to the announcement, Elon Musk’s DOGE team had been targeting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, the federal agency that oversees Sea Grant. They fired more than 100 workers at NOAA’s National Weather Service, which provides the forecasts integral to mariners’ safety at sea. They terminated numerous other scientists, including those who assess fish populations. While the fishing industry has no love lost for its regulatory agency, less science means more uncertainty, tighter catch limits and fewer fish coming across the dock.

Then came the verbal altercation Trump instigated with Gov. Janet Mills, in which he threatened to withhold Maine’s federal funding if she didn’t adopt his position on transgender student athletes. Since he had no standing to compel Maine to comply, the president seemed to resort to punitive action. Days later, Maine Sea Grant found itself on the front lines of a “ready, fire, aim” offensive.

The decision was a slap in the face to Sen. Susan Collins, who has ascended to lead the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee only to see her role hamstrung by unconstitutional actions in withholding congressionally directed spending. In a press release last July, Collins touted her work to secure $82 million for the national Sea Grant program. Suddenly, Trump left her home state’s office empty-handed, potentially spelling unemployment for nearly two dozen of her constituents.

Even if funding is restored, this cloud of uncertainty will remain, and some harm is irreversible. Sea Grant’s team suffered needless trauma from the sudden prospect of unemployment. Furthermore, it’s likely that valuable programs will still be cut in the “renegotiation” of this contract.

Trump supporters may respond by blaming Mills for refusing to bend the knee. Their intention will be to shift the spotlight away from the president’s arbitrary, dictatorial and frequently illegal actions by casting Democrats and “wokeness” as the villains.

Don’t take the bait.

This decision had nothing to do with legitimate policymaking or government efficiency. It had nothing to do with who can play on high school teams. It didn’t even have to do with fishing. It had everything to do with sending a message that dissent will not be tolerated, and any governor who dares oppose Trump’s agenda will suffer the same fate.

The stench of hypocrisy radiates from an administration that wants to let states decide how to regulate issues as consequential as abortion, yet attempts to take its wallet and go home if they don’t toe the line on other hot-button issues.

Gov. Mills stood up to a playground bully and incited his wrath. Fortunately, Mainers know when something stinks. And when it comes to protecting our independence and our fishing heritage, we also know how to fight.