The names of two fishermen who drowned off the Down East coast early this year when their scallop boat sank will not be engraved on the region’s memorial for lost fishermen, a decision that’s caused controversy and grief in their community.
Chester “Chet” and Aaron Barrett, a father-son fishing team from Addison, were taking their 34-foot scallop boat Sudden Impact from Edmunds to South Addison on Jan. 18 when they ran into rough weather. They headed to Cutler for shelter, according to texts they sent that day, but did not make it ashore.
The vessel, Sudden Impact, was found in the waters off Trescott several days later, along with the body of Chester Barrett, which was recovered. Aaron Barrett’s body remains at sea.
The Barretts were moving the boat in preparation to drag for scallops the following Monday, according to friends and family.
But because they were not actively fishing at the time, the committee governing the Lost Fishermen’s Memorial in Lubec has denied the family’s request to add their names to the granite sculpture honoring fishermen who have died in the waters off Washington County and Charlotte County, New Brunswick, or are from there but were lost fishing elsewhere.
A member of the memorial’s committee could not be reached for comment on Monday. But in information provided to radio station Star 97.7, Barbara Sellitto, president of the memorial, said that the committee is limited by rules that restrict names to fishermen who were actively working at the time of their death.
Others, including friends and relatives of the Barretts, argue that every day on the water is a working day for commercial fishermen, and they point out that the boat sank with gear onboard as the pair moved between moorings where they worked.
The issue surfaced publicly as the community prepared to remember those lost at sea with a ceremony at the memorial on Monday for the state’s first Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day. That day was proclaimed by Gov. Janet Mills to honor those lost in one of the country’s most dangerous industries and share information about new safety efforts established in the wake of recent deaths at sea — including those of the Barretts.
The dispute has reopened and deepened wounds that were just starting to heal for the fishermen’s friends and family, according to Stephanie Chambers, sister-in-law of Chet Barrett and aunt of Aaron.
“These wounds could have been healed just a bit more with the engraving of Chet and Aaron’s names but now, no matter the outcome of any future engraving decision, these little grains of salt are always going to remain in those wounds,” she said on Facebook last week.
The memorial aims to honor the lives and stories of the hundred-plus fishermen whose names are engraved there, according to the Lubec town website. Its most recent addition appears to be Tylar Michaud, an 18-year-old lobsterman from Steuben who was lost at sea in the summer of 2023.
The monument was dedicated nine years ago after seven years of fundraising that began when the town was shaken by the loss of several local fishermen in a short span of time. Their loved ones and neighbors were seeking somewhere to go to remember them and to grieve.
“We’re hoping people can find some peace, knowing their loved ones’ names are there forever,” Shelly Tinker, who helped start the memorial, previously told the Bangor Daily News. “They are not forgotten.”
The committee for the memorial makes decisions about adding names, a man who answered the phone number for one of its members said Monday. Two members were unavailable for comment, and the third did not return calls from a reporter.
In the comments to 97.7, Sellitto said she was not part of setting the criteria for the memorial, but that she would be open to talking about changes to it.
Chambers told the BDN on Monday that she had received an email from the committee last week offering to set up a meeting, but no further communication.
Chet and Aaron Barrett will also be remembered through a new bill creating a commercial fishing safety fund that went into law last month. It was introduced by Rep. Tiffany Strout, R-Harrington, in response to the searches for them and Michaud.
The fund is designed to help with safety investments for fishermen and training, equipment and other resources for the Department of Marine Resources’ search, rescue and recovery efforts. It will also be able to accept outside donations.
The bill helps address some of the Barrett family’s concerns, Chambers said. Among the ideas they support are requirements that all commercial fishing boats have a GPS tracker and all responding agencies be notified immediately when a distress call comes in, Chambers said.
The bill was also supported in public testimony by Michaud’s aunt, Liz Michaud, who started a nonprofit advocating for commercial fishing safety in his memory.
The Barretts’ family members are planning an independent memorial in their hometown of Addison, Chambers said. She attended Monday’s ceremony and said it was respectful to all lost fishermen.
“We are holding onto our faith that as the tides change, guidelines will change,” she said. “The true meaning of the engraving has been tarnished with the denial and the extended controversy.
Our family respects each name and their families called out today and engraved on the monument.”
