Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF) is announcing the retirement of Executive Director Paul Anderson after five years of leading the organization. MCCF has appointed a search committee consisting of staff and board members. Anderson will continue to lead the organization until the position is filled and is committed to working alongside the new director to ensure a smooth transition of leadership until his planned retirement date.

MCCF seeks a dynamic, forward-thinking non-profit leader with a passion for Eastern Maine’s rural fishing dependent communities to be its next Executive Director. The successful candidate will have experience guiding a nimble organization to make a positive impact in a rapidly shifting environmental and regulatory landscape.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will empower a team of nine employees to develop and implement innovative and responsive programs to enhance coastal community resilience through the support of small scale independently owned and operated local wild caught and cultured fisheries. They will work to integrate local knowledge and perspectives into state and regional decision-making infrastructure. The Executive Director will build on good nonprofit management fundamentals to maintain an efficient and financially sound organization.

Qualified candidates will:

• Be passionate about fisheries and committed to finding creative solutions to the challenges facing the industry and its communities.

• Have a strong understanding of the industry, its history, culture, and socioeconomic impact in communities. First-hand experience working in the industry is a plus.

• Bring 10+ years demonstrated success leading and managing an organization to meet its goals (preferably a non-profit).

• Have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills to successfully engage with a variety of constituencies and stakeholders.

• Live and work in the local area (Stonington, ME) to effectively foster community relationships.

For a full job posting and qualifications summary click here.

MCCF is leading a new project to create a coastal observing system in the St. Croix River estuary that is being included in the NERACOOS budget for the next five years. NERACOOS is the Northeast Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems based at the University of New Hampshire and coordinates a system of oceanographic buoys and other sensor platforms from the New York Bight to the Canadian border.

The project we will coordinate is going to deploy at least two sensor arrays to monitor water parameters including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and clarity. We will partner with members of the Passamaquoddy Tribal Nation on both sides of the international border along with state and federal partners on the US side and provincial partners on the Canadian side. It’s a modest start to what we hope will grow to include other sensors and other locations. This data will help improve our understanding of the near shore estuary systems as they change and how they relate to the ongoing efforts in the restoration of diadromous fish including Atlantic salmon and alewives.

The nearshore oceanography of this region is interesting because the eastern Maine coastal current emerges from the mouth of the Bay of Fundy and flows along our coast to Penobscot Bay where it typically gyres off southward into the Gulf of Maine. How that coastal current interacts with the many rivers along this coast is largely unknown, but is certainly important to the marine organisms that inhabit these areas. This study will help us to continue to build the network of community members, researchers and managers in the Eastern Maine Coastal Current Collaborative (EM3C). Photo courtesy of NERACOOS.

MCCF is excited to announce the return of its online Lunch and Learn series on the last Friday of each month beginning in February. The talks will be led by our staff and other industry experts who will cover current topics related to Maine’s fisheries. This year's topics range from lobster resiliency, coastal observing systems, scallop aquaculture, underutilized seafood, and more!

Participants have the opportunity to engage and interact with presenters and guest panelists by asking questions at the end of each talk. Presentations from previous years can be re-watched online. To learn more about our upcoming talks, visit our events page!

We'd also like to recognize and thank this year's series sponsors, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Camden National Bank, Island Fishing Gear & NAPA Auto Parts, and the Island Fishermen's Wives.