Voices of the Fleet

06/01/2026

Voices of the Fleet is honored to stand with communities across Maine in observing Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day on July 21, 2026.

Together, we remember those lost at sea, honor their lives and sacrifices, and support the families and fishing communities who carry their memories forward.

As part of the expanded recognition of Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day in 2026, the planning committee is organizing the laying of wreaths at Fisherman Memorials across Maine. Memorials have been identified in Pleasant Point, Lubec, Port Clyde, Boothbay Harbor, Bailey Island, Chebeague Island, and Portland. Please message us here or email [email protected] if there are other Maine memorials we’re unaware of. We don’t want anyone left out!
More details to come!



Maine Harbor Master’s Association
mainedmr
Maine Department of Marine Resources
Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries
mainecoastfishermen
Maine Coast Fishermen's Association
annie.voicesofthefleet
_nefsa_
mainelobstermen
Maine Lobstermen's Association
Sunrise County Economic Council
sunrisecountyeconomiccouncil
islandinstitute
Northeast Center Commercial Fishing Health & Safety
aragostamama

05/21/2026

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has officially opened public comment on the proposed Scallop Drag Apprenticeship Program.

Over the past several months, I have been sitting in these Scallop Advisory Council meetings and listening carefully to the discussions taking place around apprenticeship requirements, safety training, sponsorship responsibilities, days at sea requirements, and access into the fishery.

Very few people have been attending these meetings.

That matters.

These conversations directly affect the future of Maine’s scallop fishery, the safety of new entrants, working captains, fishing families, and how practical implementation will actually look on the water.

If you have concerns, support, operational insight, questions, or lived experience that could help shape this program, now is the time to speak.

Not after the rules are finalized.
Not after frustrations build.
Now.

Whether you are:
• a scallop fisherman
• a sternman
• a younger fisherman hoping to enter the fishery
• a sponsor captain
• a family member
• a safety trainer
• or simply someone connected to the working waterfront

your voice matters in this process.

The public comment period is open until June 22, 2026.

Public Hearing:
June 10, 2026
5:30 PM
DMR Conference Room 118
Marquardt Building
32 Blossom Lane, Augusta, ME
Also available remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Comments can be sent to:
[email protected]

One thing remains clear throughout these discussions:
Safety matters. Real competency matters. Practical implementation matters.

This is one of the most dangerous fisheries in the industry. Conversations around apprenticeship and entry pathways deserve thoughtful participation from the people who actually live and work within it.

Voices of the Fleet™ believes fishermen and fishing communities should engage early, constructively, and directly in these discussions while there is still time to shape the process.












https://www.maine.gov/dmr/sites/maine.gov.dmr/files/regulations-2026-05/CH11%20MAPA3-5.20.26%20Apprenticeship%20for%20web.pdf

05/21/2026

🤍🌊⚓️

⚓ Lost Fishermen’s Memorial Committee Meeting

The next meeting of the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial Committee serving Washington County, Maine and Charlotte County, New Brunswick will be held:

📍 Lubec Town Office
📅 Wednesday, May 27
🕕 6:00 PM

The committee continues its work focused on the stewardship, preservation, and long term continuity of the memorial, including ongoing planning for the upcoming Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day ceremony on July 21.

Community members are welcome to attend.

With gratitude,
Annie Sokoloski, Chair
Lost Fishermen’s Memorial

05/21/2026

SAVE THE DATE

Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day

Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Lost Fishermen’s Memorial
Lubec, Maine

The Lost Fishermen’s Memorial Committee invites the community to gather in remembrance of commercial fishermen and harvesters from Washington County, Maine and Charlotte County, New Brunswick who lost their lives while fishing or harvesting.

This memorial stands in honor of the working waterfront communities connected by these waters, generations of labor, and lives remembered at sea.

The ceremony will include:
• Wreath placement
• Community reflection and remembrance

Additional details, guest speakers, and event timing will be announced as planning continues. 🤍🌊⚓️

05/16/2026

Last night, the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial Committee officially held its first committee meeting and selected its officer positions as follows:

Annie Sokoloski, Chair
Carol Dennison, Vice Chair
Angela Kennedy, Secretary
Wayne Mallock, Treasurer

Additional committee members include:

Victor Sokoloski
Cyril Francis
Julie Keene

This memorial exists to honor commercial fishermen and harvesters lost while working on the waters of Washington County, Maine or Charlotte County, N.B., or those who resided within either of these regions, and to ensure their names, stories, and contributions are remembered with dignity and care.

The work ahead will be approached thoughtfully, respectfully, and with long term stewardship in mind for the families, communities, and working waterfronts connected to these waters.

The committee would like to thank the Lubec Town Office for accommodating out of town committee members after hours, past Lost Fishermen’s Memorial committee members and community members for their support and contributions in helping make the first meeting a successful step forward.

It truly was a collaborative effort. Bravo to everyone.

From a Voices of the Fleet™ perspective, tonight was a reminder that remembrance work is never carried by one person alone. It moves forward through communities willing to sit at the same table, navigate difficult conversations, and continue the work with care for both the past and the future.

05/15/2026

Tonight marks an important step forward for the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial in Lubec as the newly approved interim committee prepares to meet together for the first time.

I want to sincerely thank those who have stepped forward to serve in this role and help guide the memorial with care, respect, and dedication to the fishing communities it honors.

I also want to recognize and honor those who have carried this memorial forward in years past. The memorial exists today because people before us cared deeply enough to protect it, maintain it, and ensure that the lives connected to our fishing communities were not forgotten.

While the memorial physically stands in Lubec, its meaning reaches far beyond one harbor. Its roots run throughout Downeast Maine, Washington County, Campobello Island, and Charlotte County, New Brunswick. But the reach of this memorial extends even farther through the global seafood industry and the generations of fishing families, crews, processors, dealers, transporters, and waterfront communities connected to these waters.

This memorial represents more than names carved in stone. It represents sacrifice, risk, tradition, livelihood, family, survival, and the deep connection between fishing communities and the sea.

This work has never belonged to one person or one group alone. It belongs to generations of families, fishermen, waterfront communities, and all those who continue to hold these names and stories close.

As we move forward, may we continue this work with care, respect, humility, and remembrance for all those the memorial represents.

With gratitude,
Annie Sokoloski
Lost Fishermen’s Memorial
Voices of the Fleet™

05/15/2026

Spoken on Behalf of the Monument
Lubec, Maine
July 21, 2025
By Annie Sokoloski

I do not speak today as a representative of any group, organization, or family.

I speak on behalf of stone and salt.

On behalf of the wind that carries names across the narrows.

On behalf of the place where memory has weight.

This monument does not play favorites.

It does not ask how someone voted,
or whether they were born here or married in.

It does not know the politics of approval
or the divisions of committee.

It knows the names it has been given.

And it knows the silence of those still missing.

It knows the footsteps of wives, brothers, daughters, friends
coming here to remember, to ask, to grieve, to sit.

I have stood through storms.

I have held the weight of snow and crow and sorrow.

I have listened to mothers cry out the same name for years
not louder, but deeper.

I have heard the questions left unanswered.

I have heard the names not yet carved.

Not forgotten.

Just waiting.

I am not just a marker.

I am a gathering place.

A covenant with the sea
to remember what it has taken
and to promise that those who were loved
will not be lost again in time.

Some say who belongs here must meet a list.
A rule.
A line.

But I tell you:

Grief does not care for paperwork.

Love does not check guidelines.

The sea does not discriminate.

And neither do I.

I will hold what I can.

I will remember who I am asked to.

And I will wait for the names still held in someone’s heart.

They are no less real.
No less worthy.

Speak them aloud.

Bring them here.

Let them stand beside the others
if not on the stone, then in the story.
In the breath.
In the tide.

Because I am not only built of granite.

I am built of witness.

And I will keep watch.

I have walked this shoreline since I was a child.

I know these tides the way some people know hymns.

My family and friends fished these waters.

Some still do.

Some were taken.

I have seen names added to this stone that broke me open.

Not names from the news
but names from my life.

I carry them here.

Not because I was told to.
Not because I represent anyone.

But because I remember.

If you’ve ever stood at this monument,
traced a name with your hand,
or whispered one aloud
then you are part of this story, too.

So today,
I speak not just as myself,

but with this monument.

With all of you.

And for all of them.

Because no soul sails alone.

05/15/2026

On these nights, the harbor feels heavier.

Our thoughts are with the fishing community and all those carrying the weight of another heartbreaking loss along the Maine coast.

These waters give livelihoods, tradition, purpose, and pride. But they also demand more than most people will ever fully understand. When tragedy strikes, it ripples far beyond a single vessel or harbor. It moves through families, crews, wharves, kitchens, and entire communities tied together by the sea.

May we hold space for grief, for exhaustion, for uncertainty, and for one another.

🤍 🌊 ⚓

Voices of the Fleet™

Coast Guard officials say another nearby boat rescued the survivor and recovered a body from Crumple Island.

05/14/2026

Tonight at 6 PM, the first Lubec Harbor Response Committee meeting will take place at the Lubec Town Office.

This is a community focused working meeting centered around harbor response, communication, coordination, and strengthening relationships across the waterfront.

Anyone with an interest in the safety and well being of our coastal communities is welcome to attend, including:

• Community members
• Commercial fishermen
• Harvesters from all fisheries
• EMS and emergency response personnel
• Harbor and waterfront partners
• Cross border community members from Campobello Island
• U.S. Coast Guard personnel from Eastport

The goal is to bring people together before emergencies happen so communication, coordination, and relationships are stronger when they matter most.

Additional information about the Community Orchestration framework can be found through the Green & White Hope website. Link will be included in the comments.

6 PM
Lubec Town Office

Our core team created this guide to offer best practices that enable every Maine harbor to create a detailed emergency response plan for a commercial fishing incident. This plan complements – not replaces, existing protocols from the U.S.Coast Guard (USCG), Maine Marine Patrol (MMP), and other fed...

05/07/2026

The Lubec Select Board has approved the formation of an interim committee for the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial.

This committee has been established to help provide structure, continuity, and organization for the memorial moving forward. The goal is to help ensure the memorial continues with care, respect, and connection to the fishing communities it honors.

The committee includes representation connected to the fishing industry, inshore and shore-based harvesters, cross-border fishing communities, municipal leadership, and the Passamaquoddy community.

It is important to recognize that the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial belongs to the community as a whole. The committee is intended to serve as a small working group to help guide process and continuity, not to replace the many voices, families, fishermen, and community members who care deeply about the memorial and those it honors.

Community participation, family input, historical contributions, and working waterfront perspectives will continue to remain an important part of the memorial moving forward.

With gratitude,
Annie Sokoloski