Ceremony honors lost fishermen

About 50 people gathered in Lubec on July 21 under a mostly cloudy sky to remember those fishermen lost at sea. Voices of the Fleet founder Annie Sokoloski welcomed those in attendance to the Lost Fishermen's Memorial for the first ceremony marking Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day since it was established by law earlier this year.

"Today, we come together to remember the fishermen and the women who have made their living on the sea, to honor those who never returned home. To stand beside the families they left behind and to recognize a way of life that has shaped Maine's coastal communities for generations," said Sokoloski.

The presentation of the colors by Maine Marine Patrol honor guard was followed by the invocation by Pastor David Glidden of the Lubec Christian Temple Church, who asked for blessings, as a fishing boat motored behind him on the Narrows, "on the herring, the pogies, all manner of fish," and stated, "Heroes and heroines, who risk their lives upon troubled waters. We ask for your grace and your mercy to triumph over the dreadful grief, which, like an old barnacle, stubbornly clings to every heart who has suffered loss, suffered the loss of their beloved."

Lubec Select Board member Mark Kelley said, "For those of us who call Lubec home, these waters have never divided us. They've connected us." He also noted, "Every name on this memorial represents more than a fisherman. They are a husband or a wife, parents, children, brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends  in a town like ours, grief is shared."

Sokoloski spoke in a heartfelt way about why the memorial matters. "If you grew up here, fishing wasn't simply a job someone had. It was our neighbors. It was our families. It was the boats leaving the harbor before daylight, in the hope of seeing them return."

"The sea does not give our loved ones back. That is why this memorial matters. It reminds us that behind every name carved in this granite is a person who is loved," she said.

Captain Bob Peacock recounted the history of losses in Cobscook Bay over a decade ago that he said are "still felt deeply by their families, by their friends, by this and surrounding communities on both sides of the border. I had the privilege of personally knowing at least seven of the lives on this memorial." He described how the community and local, state and federal governments on both sides of the border came together in 2009 and 2010 to recover their loved ones and friends and to conduct surveys to update the outdated nautical charts.

A two‑year search using the new charts yielded the location of one of the boats sitting in 130 feet of water. He especially thanked the divers who dove to the boat and brought it to the surface.

After thanking everyone for their support, he asked people to "work for better survival gear, better fishing tactics and methods and better survival training and education." He said he doesn't want to see any more names on the memorial.

An evergreen wreath, with white flowers, blue accents and a single red rose in a fisherman's knot, was laid on the memorial by the Marine Patrol honor guard followed by a moment of silence, a memorial tribute and bell tolling ceremony honoring the lives of Thomas West and Stephen Johnson Jr., who were lost this spring.

Clarissa, Thomas West's daughter, wrote, "The ocean was not just where he worked. It was part of his soul. It was where he spent his life, found his purpose and created so many treasured memories with our family."

Stephen Johnson's father wrote, "If you knew Stephen, you knew where his heart truly belonged. He found peace in the outdoors, whether he was fishing before sunrise, hunting deer, bear or moose, camping under the stars. Losing him has left an emptiness that words can never fully describe."

Brian Flynn with acoustic guitar sang a fishing folk song called "Campobello Sky" with the refrain, "Because we're the seiners, we're the draggers. We set and haul the traps. Any day's a good day fishing, when every man comes back."

The ceremony ended with the drum beats and a Passamaquoddy song by the Thunderbird Women -- Cipelahq Ehpicik -- and a traditional blessing by Newell Lewey.

Lubec was one of two locations where the ceremonies took place. The second was at Boothbay Harbor, which was attended by Governor Janet Mills. She said she was honored "to sign the legislation establishing Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day in March -- making Maine one of the first states in the nation to do so -- to remember the fishermen we have lost."

Also in attendance in Boothbay Harbor were Liz Michaud, founder and president of Green and White Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing fishermen home, officials from the Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Marine Patrol and several state leaders who worked on the legislation. Both Sokoloski and Michaud with the help of Rep. Will Tuell spearheaded efforts to get the bill passed.

The ceremony was organized and supported by the Fishermen's Remembrance Committee and the Lost Fishermen's Memorial Committee and was supported by over 30 partners.