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by Lorelei Stevens
ROCKLAND, ME - It’s something most fishermen
don’t even want to think about. But if the regulatory and
economic pressures get to be too much, the opportunity for job
retraining will continue to be available in the state of Maine,
at least for the near future.
On July 1, the federal Department of Labor announced that it was
awarding another $2 million in grant money to Maine’s Fishing
Industry Retraining Project.
So far, this state-run project, which began in 1995 in response
to Amendments 4 and 5 to the groundfish plan, has attracted $13
million in federal funding and retrained about 1,300 individuals
with connections to Maine’s fishing and seafood industries.
The kinds of new careers or professional certifications that people
have trained for are as varied as the participants themselves,
according to Scott Tilton of the retraining project.
The list includes: forestry management, with some graduates now
working for the National Park Service; bookkeeping; computer repair;
diesel mechanics; shellfish aquaculture; truck driving; commercial
pilot and Coast Guard captain’s licenses; and much more.
“Participants find the kind of training they’re interested
in and, as long as there’s a market for it and a job at
the end, we’ll fund it,” Tilton said.
Tilton, who had been the director of the project since its beginning,
recently stepped down to become a full-time oyster farmer. During
a transition period until a new director is named, Tilton will
continue in a part-time capacity as project coordinator and Frank
Morgan has been named project facilitator.
How to get it
Retraining is available to any fisherman, seafood industry worker,
or spouse who can prove that at least 65% of their income for
the past two years came from the fishing industry and that they’ve
suffered a negative economic impact during that time.
Money is available for tuition and books, and even to purchase
tools for people entering a new trade. The project also provides
a needs-based stipend to help families make ends meet while an
individual is actually in retraining.
Tilton estimated that this most recent grant is enough to fund
the retraining of about 200 more people. If the demand continues
after that, the project will need to try to obtain additional
funding.
“The project will go through 2005, but it fills up quickly,”
he said.
Interested industry people can apply for retraining assistance
at any of the six Maine Career Centers. The centers are located
in Machias, Ellsworth, Rockland, Newcastle, Bath, and Portland.
There if needed
After eight years of coordinating retraining services in Maine,
Tilton acknowledged that some fishermen still have a hard time
believing the project is there to help rather than hurt them.
“Some people have seen this as a government ploy to get
them out of the industry,” he said.
But, Tilton stressed, participating in the Fishing Industry Retraining
Project is completely voluntary.
“If you’re at your wits end and you need help, we’re
here to help you,” he said.
Tilton started off his own working life as a clammer. He also
spent time lobstering and working for Great Eastern Mussel Farms
before doing outreach and support for a federal Fishing Family
Assistance Center.
He said he wrote the first retraining grant because “we
saw there was a real need to reach out to this industry.”
While most workers are keyed into unemployment and retraining
services by virtue of working for small and large businesses,
most fishing people work for themselves.
“This industry is unique because they’re almost all
self-employed. These guys are off the radar screen because they
don’t quite fit the mold of ‘dislocated workers,’”
Tilton said.
Moving on
Inspired by some of the fishermen he helped get into retaining,
Tilton himself decided to leave his job as retaining project director
to devote all his time to the oyster farm he started in 1999.
“It was never my intention to be a career administrator.
I got interested when some retraining fishermen invited me to
see what they were doing,” he said.
Aquaculture turned out to be a good fit.
“I love being on the water,” Tilton said. “And
I liked the idea of growing food and working with Mother Nature
to produce a wonderful product,” he said.
Tilton’s oyster business is called Weskeag River Shellfish
Farms and is located on the Weskeag River in South Thomaston.
Although he’s making the jump to full-time shellfish grower,
Tilton said he will continue to work with the retraining project
to see it through the transition.
Providing some words of reassurance, he predicted that Maine Career
Center staffers will be able to deal with whatever challenges
fishermen bring them.
“Fishermen are innovative and they have a lot of spirit,”
Tilton said. “The people in the (career center) field offices
went through some turmoil in the beginning, but now they know
how to work with fishermen.”
For more information or to find out how to get to the center nearest
you, call the state Department of Labor office at (207) 624-6390
or Frank Morgan, who starts office hours in October, at (207)
594-9576.
