January 27, 2020 — Arnold “Joe” Nickerson and Chris Pinkham were remembered Friday as devoted family men and hardworking, experienced members of Maine’s commercial fishing community.
The two men were fishing aboard Nickerson’s boat, the Hayley Ann, about 50 miles southeast of Portland on Thursday when the vessel is believed to have either capsized or quickly flooded. They did not have time to make a radio call, although the boat’s automatic emergency beacon apparently floated free and sent a distress signal. Both men were dead when a fellow fishermen pulled them from the water.
Nickerson, 60, was a well-known and widely respected fishing boat captain. He lived in Arundel with his wife, Sharon, and had a young grandchild. His boat was named after his grown daughter, according to a friend.
Hayley Brown, 29, Nickerson’s daughter, said in an interview Friday that her father spent his whole working life as a fisherman.