MILBRIDGE, Maine — June 29, 2014 — At the Milbridge town Marina Friday morning, Linden Perry bailed water from an old wooden skiff to ready it to fetch his lobster boat from its mooring in the Narraguagus River. The aging fisherman exchanged a few bits of conversation with James Robertson about outboard motors.
Robertson’s boat already was at the pier, and he was getting his vessel ready to go out into Narraguagus Bay and beyond. Unlike Perry’s work boat, the Captain Cole, Robertson’s gleaming, spotless Kandi Leigh would not be hauling any lobster traps. Robertson was getting his boat ready to take out a small group of tourists on an excursion.
Roberton is a fisherman — some of the time. But when he is not diving for scallops or urchins in the winter, he is fishing for tourists and offering them one of several types of short cruises on the Kandi Leigh.
He is proof that fishermen can develop add-on businesses catering to the many tourists who visit Maine each summer, as well as Maine residents, although it’s not for everyone.
There are other fishermen who operate similar ventures, including Stefanie Alley, a lobster fisherman from Islesford on Little Cranberry Island, south of Mount Desert Island.
Read the full story and watch the video at the Bangor Daily News