ROCKPORT, ME - Organizers of this year's Maine Fishermen's Forum and Trade Show - set for Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 27-March 1, at the Samoset Resort - have once again assembled a comprehensive program of education, information, equipment, and even a little entertainment, guaranteed to keep folks busy at the popular spring weekend event.
    Whether bringing the family and settling in for the duration, or simply dropping by for a day, attendees at this year's forum - the 28th annual - will find no shortage of activities to occupy their time.
    Three full days of seminars, workshops and plenty of networking time, all kick off on Thursday with a daylong session devoted to the role of Marine Protected Areas.
    Friday, seminars run from 9 am to 4:30 pm and include sessions on: herring assessment and management, and the effect of bait on lobster growth; lobster management/area management; scallop gear research and stock enhancement programs; and an update on the Maine-New Hampshire inshore trawl survey.
    Saturday is another full day with many sessions including: fishing vessel safety; loss of commercial fishing access; understanding Gulf of Maine groundfish stocks; lobster boat racing pre-season planning meeting; equal protection for whales and the industry; and much more.
    As always, the industry trade show (largest commercial fishing expo north of Boston) will be open to attendees all day Friday and Saturday. Social events are planned for both Thursday and Saturday evenings and at noon on Saturday attendees are invited to a buffet lunch with a special guest speaker.
    For a complete forum schedule and list of trade show exhibitors, see the forum ad on page 2A.

    Sure to be a highlight of Saturday evening's banquet and awards dinner will be the presentation of $14,000 in Maine Fishermen's Forum scholarships, an all-time high for the event.
    The forum has, for the past several years, awarded 10 individual scholarships at $1000 each. But, thanks to additional donations to the scholarship fund over the past year, the forum board has increased this year's allotment to 14 awards.
    The primary source of funding for forum scholarships is through an annual benefit auction and raffle, and some private donations. When Ray Cronk of Shepherd Lobster Wire passed away last February, his family requested that donations be made in his name to the forum scholarship fund. Nearly $4,000 was donated in Cronk's memory, prompting this year's additional awards.
    To be eligible for a forum scholarship award, applicants must be in at least the second year of post-secondary school education and have an immediate family member involved in Maine's seafood industry. Recipients are drawn at random from a pool of qualified applicants.
    Among those receiving scholarships in 2002 were: Gregory Ameden, Bar Harbor, attending Gordon College; Amanda Blackmore, Deer Isle, University of Maine-Orono; Kristin L. Dexter, Georgetown, University of New Hampshire; Jaedra Emery, Westfield, MA, University of New England; Dean McGuire, East Machias, UMaine-Machias; Gretchen Pemberton, Blue Hill, Maine Maritime Academy; Frank Shephard, Stonington, UMaine-Orono; Laura Sherman, Brooklin, Husson College; Agnes Stanley, Swans Island, UMaine-Farmington; and Robert Williams, Stonington, Central Maine Technical College.
    Scholarship applications and information are available at www.mainfishermensforum.org or by sending a SASE to Maine Fishermen's Forum, PO Box 288, Bath, ME 04530.

    As forum coordinator Chilloa Young and the forum's all-volunteer board of directors were putting the finishing touches on planning for this year's event, they received notification that the forum has been nominated for possible national recognition.
    Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) has nominated the forum for a 2003 Walter B. Jones Memorial and NOAA Excellence Award in Coastal and Ocean Resource Management.
    Formal notification of award winners will not occur until mid-February and actual presentation of awards will be at a ceremony in Washington, DC in March. Win or lose, forum organizers said they were extremely pleased just to be nominated for the prestigious award.
    According to the NOAA web site, these awards seek to recognize individuals and organizations that show "innovation, resourcefulness, leadership, and a commitment to balancing the human use of America's coastal and ocean resources with the needs of the resources themselves."
    Initiated by the late congressman Rep. Walter B. Jones, and later expanded by NOAA, this program provides national recognition for those individuals and organizations that successfully strike a balance between business interests and environmental considerations in the responsible use of coastal resources.