Maine marine resources commissioner has profane exchange during meeting

AUGUSTA, Maine (WGME) — The Maine Department of Marine Resources’ commissioner said “f— you” to a man during a heated exchange at a meeting on minimum catch size limits for Maine lobsters Thursday.

The profane exchange took place the same day Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher withdrew a proposed rule to increase minimum size requirements for lobsters to be caught in Maine.

Maine lobstermen use a tape measure to measure each lobster’s carapace from eye socket to tail. Under current regulations, those smaller than the minimum size of 3.25 inches must be returned to the water to grow, protecting the lobster population for the future.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission initially said that increasing the minimum lobster size would help stop the decline of baby lobsters.

Maine harvests most American lobsters. This harvest fell from more than 132 million pounds in 2016 to just around 93 million in 2024.

The Department of Marine Resources proposed a gauge increase of one-sixteenth of an inch — twice the size of the last gauge increase 30 years ago.

Opponents argued that the rule change would have given Canadian lobstermen an unfair advantage since they would not have been affected by the change.

At the hearing Thursday, Keliher announced that his agency would withdraw the rule pending new stock survey data and include fishermen in data collection.

*Warning: The video below contains profanity*

He also said that Maine lobsters will be included in the development of future conservation strategies designed to protect population levels in the Gulf of Maine.

“I think it’s the right thing to do because the future of the industry is at stake for many different reasons,” Keliher said during the meeting.

Then there was some chaotic crosstalk from the crowd, and Keliher can be heard asking the group to listen to him.

One man at the time yelled, “We don’t need to listen to you. You sold out to NOAA and Canada. Why should we listen to you?”

“F*** you, I sold out,” Keliher yelled back at the man.

“That’s nice. Foul language in the meeting. Good for you. That’s our commissioner,” the man yelled back.

Keliher issued a statement Friday to the Bangor Daily News saying he apologized to anyone he offended. The statements came as a result of his passion for the industry and criticism of his motives, which he found unfair, he told BDN.

According to BDN, Keliher has held his job since former Gov. Paul LePage hired him in 2012. Gov. Janet Mills reappointed him after she took office in 2019.