ROCKPORT — The annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum is known for having a full slate of seminars about new regulations, marketing strategies, management, fishing techniques and other related topics.
This year, forum organizers are going the extra mile to bring in some entertainment, too.
Keith Colburn is not a typical entertainer, but he is captain of the Alaskan crab boat Wizard, one of several boats featured on the popular Discovery Channel television program “Deadliest Catch.” Colburn, whose home port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is more than 5,000 miles away from Maine, will be a featured speaker at the forum. He will give a talk and have an open discussion with session attendees at 1 p.m. Thursday.
The forum runs for three days, from Thursday through Saturday, March 1, and, as always, will be held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. All forum seminars, including Colburn’s talk, are free and open to the public.
There will be nearly 40 seminar sessions at the forum along with a trade show with 120 exhibitors, including a catamaran workboat vendor, according to forum organizers. Other events include an ocean survival training session in the resort’s indoor pool and a scholarship benefit auction.
Among the session topics will be several that have been on the minds of many fishermen and marine-oriented Mainers this past year. The state’s green crab invasion, the new state-funded Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative and possible ways to keep whales out of fishing gear will each be discussed at separate sessions.
There also will be seminars on ocean acidification, scallop fishery management methods, scallop aquaculture and trends in the worldwide seafood market. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, Downeast Lobstermen’s Association and Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association plan to hold meetings for their members at the forum.
More information about the Maine Fishermen’s Forum can be found online atwww.mainefishermensforum.org.
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