Port Clyde, a coastal community of 1500 people, has only had one drastic change in the last decades. It’s the fish: there’s just not so much of them anymore.
Glen Libby, 54, a Port Clyde fisherman, remembers the time when you could catch more in a day than what people now need four days to catch. “Over the last decades, it’s been a steady decline,” said Glen Libby, chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association, a non-profit group seeking to improve the lives of local fishermen, and president of a local fishermen’s cooperative. “Every year you hope it’s the year that it turns around. We’re still hopeful it will.”
The decline in groundfish (haddock, cod, flounder, halibut, hake, Pollock, and red fish) is due to the influx of industrial fishing in the region in the last few decades. Despite the challenges, Glen Libby is part of a family of fishermen—Glen, a former groundfisherman and current shrimp fisherman. Glen’s brother Gary Libby, 52, is a groundfishermen, lobsterman, and shrimp fisherman. Glen’s son Justin Libby, 30, captains a groundfish boat. Glen and Gary’s father, Roger Libby, who is in his 70’s, originally got the family into fishing and is still a constant presence on the Port Clyde docks, keeping his eye on the family business.
But the family has had to adjust to higher fuel prices, federal regulations and competition from industrial fisheries. Their strategy to stay afloat? They organized the Port Clyde fishing cooperative last year, with local fishermen processing and selling their catch directly to customers. The fishermen use environmentally-friendly fishing gear that meets or exceeds federal requirements and attracts customers who want to support a local, sustainable fishing model. The coop, called Port Clyde Fresh Catch, offers a delivery subscription service and online sales, where customers can have fresh or frozen seafood shipped to their home. The coop also has extended to restaurant and farmer’s market sales.
Read the complete story from Earth Justice.