Fishermen and the Endangered Right Whale

“I’d hate to be a young guy starting out,” Hutchings said. “ … It (NOAA) should be more worried about the fishermen becoming extinct.”

A painting of the first few buoys on the tree in front of Hutchings' house hangs in the barn that doubles as his lobster shop. It’s a reminder of his 48 years as a Maine lobsterman.

“You don’t even need to look out the windows anymore if you don’t want to …. The new fishermen, I call them Betty Crocker fishermen — just add water,” Hutchings said. “But I was that way, too, probably. At one point, that’s what they thought of me, I’m sure.”

A tall stump in Lincolnville is covered in lobster buoys; Mike Hutchings began hanging them over 20 years ago. The stump was a healthy tree when he first moved to the property when his son was just a year old. “It just faded away, like things do, I guess,” Hutchings said.

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Kendra Nicole

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