October 6, 2014 — A blue lobster caught off Pine Point last month grabbed headlines for being a one in 2 million find.
But the breed that appeared nearly as rare, in fact, was the person who caught it: a 14-year-old girl named Meghan LaPlante.
Females make up a small minority of Maine lobster fishermen. Just 4 percent of the state’s 5,171 commercial lobster licenses are held by women, a number that has remained steady for about a decade, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. But the license numbers do not include female sternmen, nor do they include women on the waiting list for licenses.
And female fishermen say the numbers don’t reflect the growth they’ve witnessed.
“I’ve seen a tremendous increase in the number of women on the water,” said Genevieve Kurilec McDonald, a Stonington-based lobsterman and member of Maine’s Lobster Advisory Council. Appointed in June, she is the first female to sit on the board.
“I think it’s great. It’s not just a man’s world anymore.”
McDonald grew up sailing, and as a kid wanted to be a marine biologist. About 10 years ago, a friend of the family needed a sternman, “so I jumped on board and never looked back,” she said. She got her commercial fishing license four years ago, and recently bought her second boat, Hello Darlin’ II. “I love being on the water. I feel good at the end of the day.”
Tired of ill-fitting fishing jackets and pants made for men, McDonald reached out last year to other female commercial fishermen in the hopes of making a case for a line of women’s gear. She launched a Chix Who Fish group on Facebook, and received more than 500 photos of female commercial fishermen from all over the world.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald