Courtesy / Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association Executive Director Ben Martens, right, discusses underutilized fish species with a guest during a 2020 culinary event.
Updated: May 4, 2022
Fishermen’s association triples community investments in five years
Courtesy / Scott Gable, Maine Coast Fishermen's Association
Over the past five years, the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association has tripled its income and investments.
Over the past five years, the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association has tripled the amount of donations it’s taken in.
That’s resulted in a tripling in the amount of investments the Brunswick nonprofit has made in community programs such as its largest project, Fishermen Feeding Mainers.
The group has also increased the number of individual donors from just over 50 to nearly 600, according to its recently issued 2021 annual report.
“In 2016 we raised roughly $522,000 and spent roughly $417,000,” Executive Director Ben Martens told Mainebiz.
That compares with 2021, when the association's income was $1.6 million and expenses were $1.2 million.
The majority of the annual budget goes to programmatic work, which accounts for 85% of its expenses.
Building connections
“Over those five years, we added multiple projects and work to what MCFA does,” Martens said. “This includes Fishermen Feeding Mainers, which is our largest project to date, representing close to $500,000 raised and spent in 2021 alone.”
Martens attributed the increase in donors and donations to the association’s focused effort to broaden its community over the past five years.
“We increased our efforts to educate and share our work outwardly and we focused on creating connections built upon shared values, hope and optimism for Maine's fishing future,” he said.
“Bluntly, a lot of it simply has come down to better communication as so many Mainers, and those who come to visit Maine, care deeply about protecting Maine's fisheries and the communities and people who rely on our ocean's natural resources.”
Strategies to bring in donors and donations, he continued, have included finding ways to connect community members to the association’s mission and work.
“Some of that is using great photos, videos and stories to share what fishermen are experiencing and doing to build a better future for Maine and why MCFA is an important part of the equation,” he said.
‘Cheat code’
He continued, “We also have a bit of a ‘cheat code’ in seafood. Seafood is a fantastic way to remind folks of fishermen's role in our local food system and Maine has so many amazing seafood products to get excited about.”
To leverage that product, he said, the association has hosted seafood-focused events and published a cookbook, titled “Catch, a Maine Seafood Cookbook." The association has also helped connect folks to seafood through the pandemic and launched the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program to support local fishermen and feed those struggling with food security.
“We are also trying new and innovative ways to get our brand and mission out into the world,” he said.
That included the launch of a product called Maine Coast Monkfish Stew, to help create a market for monkfish and support the Fishermen Feeding Mainers program, as well as an online store and relationships with business partners who create co-branded products.
Policy work
The association also launched its Fishermen Wellness program and is the fiscal agent and founding member of the Fishing Community Coalition, which works in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the needs of community-based fishermen throughout the United States.
“This entity developed and passed the Young Fishermen's Development Act, which creates a pool of funding at National Sea Grant to help train and prepare the next generation of fishermen,” said Martens.
Other initiatives include leading a camera monitoring research program with The Nature Conservancy for Maine’s groundfish fleet, along with two years of research outfitting federal scallop boats with cameras for monitoring as well.
The association also added two new staff positions over the past five years, Martens added.
Started in ‘old fish shack’
Maine Coast Fishermen's Association 2021 Annual Report summarizes community activities and programs and recognizes individuals, companies, foundations and organizations supporting its mission to build sustainable fisheries and vibrant fishing communities for Maine.
Last year marked 15 years since the association “was conceived in an old fish shack in Port Clyde,” Martens wrote in his introduction to the report.
Martens said the pandemic brought new needs that resulted in a broadening of the association’s efforts and the development of programs focused closer to home.
“We are still a leading national voice advocating for good regulations and good science, but we have also heavily invested in programs that reach deep into our communities like Fishermen Feeding Mainers, Fishermen Wellness, and working waterfront education and advocacy,” he wrote.
Click here to view full report.
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