Fishermen from Maine and Across the Country Make Their Case in Washington

MCFA was represented by (L to R) Vincent Balzano, Noah Oppenheim, Devyn Campbell, Ben Martens, Hannah MacDonald, Mason Cushman, and Karan Cushman (behind the camera!)

Last week, MCFA joined our partners in the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) for our March fly-in to Washington, D.C. The FCC brings together community-based fishing organizations from across the country. While our fisheries may differ by region, many of the challenges we face are the same: underinvestment in working waterfront communities, barriers to federal food-system support, and management systems that too often overlook the realities facing small-scale fishermen. On and off the Hill, there is real power when fishermen are united together. When fishing communities from Maine, Alaska, the Gulf, and Cape Cod speak with a shared voice, it underscores that these are not isolated local concerns but rather, they are national issues that matter to the future of domestic seafood production and coastal economies.

For MCFA, the trip was also an opportunity to make sure Maine perspectives and stories were part of that broader conversation. Alongside FCC shared priorities, we spent time educating policymakers and agency staff about issues that are especially pressing in our region. Our fisheries operate where management delays, poor data, and regulatory uncertainty can have especially immediate consequences for fishermen and communities. That is why it is so important that federal decision-makers understand not just the broad national challenges, but how those challenges play out here at home. 

What We Were There to Do

With the FY26 budget largely settled, attention is already turning to the appropriations process and the need to ensure that fishing communities are not left behind in the federal funding landscape. A big part of our work in Washington was helping offices better understand how federal investments in fisheries science, surveys, and workforce development directly benefit fishing communities on the water. Across all of these conversations, the core message was that these are smart investments in domestic food security, working waterfronts, and coastal communities that have fed this country for generations.

On the Hill

Over two days, the FCC met with a wide range of congressional offices and committee staff, reflecting the national breadth of the coalition and the shared challenges facing fishing communities across the country. MCFA focused especially on making sure Maine stories were told by meeting with offices that included Senator Collins, Senator King, Representative Pingree, Representative Golden, and other offices and committees with a direct stake in the future of Maine’s fishing economy.

In those conversations, we shared firsthand accounts of why these programs and initiatives matter. Fishermen spoke about the challenges of being among the last groundfishermen east of Portland, Maine; the barriers to entry and difficulty accessing the capital needed to start a fishing career; and the importance of training programs that help them build skills that apply to fishing while still in high school. We talked about the importance of strong support for NOAA Fisheries science capacity, and highlighted the value of industry-based surveys in producing better science and building trust.

We also explained why inclusion in USDA food systems programs matters so much for fishing businesses. Seafood is food production, yet fishing businesses have often been excluded from federal programs designed to support local and regional producers. Fishermen shared how access to some of the same capital and loan programs that farmers have access to would be instrumental in helping them create sustainable businesses. 

At the Agencies

In addition to the meetings on Capitol Hill, we traveled to Silver Spring for a direct meeting with NOAA Fisheries leadership, and then to the USDA to meet with the brand new position of Seafood Liaison (a position FCC and MCFA worked to establish). These agency meetings are important as they create space not only to raise concerns, but to build relationships with the people responsible for implementing policy and programs.

At NOAA, we talked about the need for improved stock assessments, more cooperative research, and adding industry-based surveys that can help managers better understand rapidly changing conditions. In a region where fishermen are experiencing climate-driven shifts firsthand, these programs are essential to making management more responsive, credible, and grounded in what is actually happening on the water. We also spent time discussing programs like the Young Fishermen’s Development Act and the Saltonstall-Kennedy program as practical tools that help sustain the future of the industry through training, innovation, research partnerships, and business resilience.

At USDA, we dove into seafood’s place in the nation’s food system with the newly appointed Seafood Liaison. The new Seafood Liaison has spent his career in terrestrial agriculture, so much of this meeting was focused on the idea the fishing businesses are food businesses just like farmers and ranchers and drawing comparisons of the issues facing both parts of our food system. We covered some USDA-fish successes like MCFA getting seafood into schools, and a fisherman getting a Farm Credit loan to buy a new boat. We also covered some of the gaps, where we hope USDA can support the fishing industry in the future like the need for federal food procurement and food systems programs to better recognize domestically harvested seafood from small businesses. These conversations were about helping agencies see commercial fishermen as producers feeding the country.

What Comes Next

We left Washington encouraged by the level of engagement we received and reminded of how important it is to keep showing up and sharing stories. There is real value in standing alongside partners from across the country, and there is equal value in making sure Maine’s specific challenges and priorities are clearly understood.

We are grateful to our congressional delegation for taking the time to engage with these issues, and grateful to our FCC partners for continuing to build a strong, unified voice for community-based fishermen nationwide. Trips like this matter because they help federal leaders better understand the people, businesses, and communities behind the policies they shape.