February 28, 2018 — The largest commercial fishing industry group on the East Coast will elect a new leader this Friday for the first time in 27 years.
Kristan Porter, a Cutler fisherman, is expected to take the reins of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association at the end of its annual meeting in Rockport. Porter, however, said it is “not a done deal” that he’ll become the group’s next president.
Porter, 47, would take over for South Thomaston lobsterman David Cousens, who is stepping down as MLA president after having held the post since 1991. Porter said he knows of no other board member who has expressed interest in the job but that other names might be submitted for nomination at the meeting.
“I don’t know if it’s set in stone,” Porter said Monday.
The MLA was founded in 1954 and, with 1,200 members, bills itself as “the oldest and largest fishing industry association on the East Coast.” It holds its annual meeting each year at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, a three-day commercial fishing conference held every March at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
If Porter is elected as MLA president, he said, “I’m not going to be on the 27-year plan like Dave was.”
Porter, who currently holds the post of first vice president, said he expects he would serve as president for only a few years and then step aside so a younger fisherman could take on the leadership role.