While a regional fishermen’s protest progressed peacefully Friday morning outside the front door of the headquarters for federal fishery managers in Blackburn Industrial Park, congenial, sympathetic Gloucester police officers patrolled the private area to control parking and traffic.
But behind them, hidden from casual view, was a coalition of state and federal police forces mobilized in the weeks since the protest demonstration was announced by Amanda Odlin, a Scarborough, Maine, commercial fishing boat co-owner and suburban karate mom, to deal with a worst-case scenario — a demonstration turned violent.
There were no arrests or untoward incidents in what was the largest fishing protest in memory, drawing fishermen from distant ports to the hub of the Gulf of Maine.
Police estimated 250 people were at the site, though organizers insisted there were at least 350.