Lubec - Yesterday, DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson joined dozens of fishing industry members, their families and friends in Lubec to commemorate fishermen who lost their lives at sea, and to announce Governor Mills' proclamation of July 21, 2025 as Maine Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day. The event, coordinated by Green and White Hope, Inc Founder Liz Michaud, was held at the Lost Fishermen's Memorial on Lubec's waterfront. The memorial is engraved with the names of fishermen who did not return home.
Speakers included Bill Case, Founding member of the Lost Fishermen's Memorial Committee, Commissioner Wilson, Liz Michaud, John Roberts of Fishing Partnership Support Services, Pat Shepard and Josh Duym of REDDE Marine Safety Systems, Monique Coombs with the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, State Representative Tiffany Strout, and Anne-Marie Sokoloski of Sogelco International. The Maine Marine Patrol Honor Guard also conducted the ceremonial Presentation of the Colors as part of the event.
Commissioner Wilson's remarks are below:
Good afternoon.
Thank you all for joining us on this solemn day.
Governor Mills would like me to send her heartfelt condolences to those of you here today touched by these tragedies, and her strong appreciation for your shared commitment to the safety of Maine fishermen.
I’d also like to recognize our state legislators here today - Representative Tuell, Representative Strout, Representative Hepler, Senator Moore, and Senator Tepler. If there are others here, please raise your hand. Thank you all and for your dedication to the safety and wellbeing of the Maine fishing community.
Today we gather to honor the Maine fishermen who lived and worked on the water, but who sadly did not come home.
The latest names to be added to this monument include Tylar Michaud, Jaxson Marston, Alton Wallace, and Dwayne Alley.
I’d also like to acknowledge the loss of Chester and Aaron Barrett, who paid the ultimate sacrifice while underway this past scallop season. My deepest condolences to their family and friends
Each of these fishermen risked their lives to feed us, to sustain their communities, and to support their families.
We should never forget those who gave their lives to this calling.
Some names are etched here in stone. Others live on only in stories, in photographs, and in the memories of those who loved them.
Their loss is felt deeply, not only by their families, but by the entire Maine fishing community—because in towns like Lubec and others on our coast, when one fisherman is lost, we all grieve.
Let this monument stand as a promise: that we will remember their sacrifice; and that we will work together to prevent the tragedies that took the lives of these and too many other Maine fishermen.
DMR’s Commercial Fishing Safety Council will continue to guide efforts to improve safety training, education, and outreach for Maine commercial fishermen. If there are members of the Council here today, please raise your hands. Thank all for your service and dedication to fishermen safety.
We will also work with other organizations like the Green and White Hope, established in memory of lobsterman Tylar Michaud.
And we are deeply grateful to Representative Strout whose advocacy for this industry has resulted in a fund that will support improved safety for Maine’s commercial fishing fleet.
May those we have lost rest in peace. And may their memory long endure.
Thank you.
And now I’ll ask you all to join me in a moment of silence as the Marine Patrol Honor Guard lays a wreath on this monument in remembrance of those we have lost.