NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Mayor Scott W. Lang honored Captain Martin Manley and Howard W. Nickerson in perpetuity with the Mayor’s Professional Mariners Award and announced Harriet Didriksen as the 2010 award recipient at the Commercial Marine Expo on June 9.
Harriet Didriksen was honored for her work constantly fighting for fishing families, the fishing way of life, and the American dream. She steadfastly attends New England Fisheries Management Council meetings from Connecticut to Maine, and never misses a gathering where she can help fishermen oppose government bureaucrats’ undue interference. Didriksen is a regular at hearings in Washington – which she attends at her own expense – and is a tireless advocate. She owns the F/V Settler and is owner and operator of New Bedford Ship Supply, one of the oldest ship chandleries on the East Coast. She also owned the F/V Bagatell, which is now an educational vessel at Stony Brook University. Didriksen’s father dragged in the winter and scalloped in the summer. He emigrated from Norway to Brooklyn and moved to New Bedford to be closer to Georges Bank. Her uncles were also fishermen. Her brother is a shore-side business and vessel owner. She is the mother of two.
The late Capt. Martin “Marty” Manley was a commercial fisherman for 38 years, and at the age of just 19, was one of the youngest skippers out of the Port of New Bedford. Manley was a tireless advocate for the commercial scallop fishing industry. He was recognized as an industry leader and received numerous awards and accolades, including Helmsman of the Year from the Port of Gloucester. He was a member and former president of the Offshore Mariners Association. During his career, he owned and operated several scallopers along the eastern seaboard, the last being the F/V Mary Anne, which he designed, built, and operated with great pride. He served as the director of the City of New Bedford Harbor Development Commission, and later served as manager of the Popes Island Marina until his retirement in 2007. The building of that marina was one of his life’s accomplishments. He served as a member of the New Bedford Redevelopment Authority and the Economic Development Commission.
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