I first started working with commercial fishermen in New Hampshire soon after graduating from UNH. On that first trip out into the Gulf of Maine, observing spawning cod at sea with a fun-loving, sea-smart, joke-riddled Captain, I knew this would be part of my future.
After spending several years in Jamaica doing volunteer work and then land-based aquaculture, I started a small seafood business on the island, encouraging Jamaican restaurateurs to buy local seafood.
When I returned home, I went back to where I had been one of the first employees: Great Bay Aquaculture. While there, I worked in various roles for the country’s first land-based hatchery for marine finfish, in Newington, NH.
When an opportunity to interview for the General Manager position for the local Community Supported Fishery (CSF), NH Community Seafood, came along, I applied and got the position.
That was in 2015, and since then, I have watched as several veteran Captains retire from the northern New England commercial fishing industry with no one to replace them in the wheelhouse. The time-honored concept of succession in this industry is dying. A project in the making since 2019, thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service grant program, the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance was founded in 2022.
In my spare time, I like to travel, spend time on the water with my family and friends, see live music, and raise poultry and organic veggies and herbs while enjoying time on my lakeside “farmette” in Northwood, NH.