The committee that runs a Lubec memorial for Down East fishermen who have died at sea will meet soon to clarify rules that initially seemed to disqualify the addition of a father-son scalloping team who drowned early this year. Amid a backlash to the possibility that the two fishermen wouldn’t make it onto the memorial, the committee may decide to include their names, and its members plan to make a final decision soon.
The Maine Lost Fishermen’s Memorial is a granite sculpture bearing the names of fishermen from Washington County or Charlotte County, New Brunswick who died while actively working on the water.
Family and friends had requested the addition of Chester “Chet” and Aaron Barrett, a father and son from Addison who drowned in January after hitting bad weather while moving their scallop boat between moorings.
The fact that they were moving their boat in preparation to fish has raised questions about the meaning of the memorial’s guidelines and sparked heated discussion on social media. Family members have said the experience has been deeply hurtful. The controversy came to a head late last week, as officials prepared for a ceremony at the Lubec memorial on Monday to honor Maine’s first Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day.
But the committee that governs the memorial has not actually met to make a final decision about adding the Barretts, its president said Wednesday, and will do so soon while working to clarify the definition set by the memorial’s founders. The committee previously used an understanding of active fishing that it inherited when it took over management of the memorial.
“I understand, and I hear clearly what people are describing,” memorial President Barbara Sellitto said of the argument that moving a boat in order to fish is considered active work.
The memorial opened in 2016 after years of fundraising to create a public site honoring those lost at sea in the fishing region.
Several years ago, its initial board members resigned because they felt they had fulfilled their mission statement by getting it built, according to Sellitto.
Its then-president approached the Lubec Historical Society, to which Sellitto also belongs, to ask for help to continue managing it, she said.
Three members of the society formed a separate independent committee to do so.
They inherited a set of guidelines for adding new names: to review the person’s name, age, a copy of their obituary, the circumstances of their death and whether they were actively fishing.
Since it took over managing the memorial, the new committee had reviewed two requests before the Barretts, its president said. Tylar Michaud, an 18-year-old lobsterman from Steuben who died while hauling traps, was added, and another person was denied.
Members have not yet been able to meet to make a final decision about the Barretts because of scheduling conflicts, according to Sellitto. Most recently, one has been hospitalized and the other is out of the country.
Members initially said it seemed the rules would disqualify the Barretts under the previous guidelines, but they could not make a final decision without meeting.
According to Sellitto, that and other miscommunications between committee members and the community — along with widespread attention to the issue online — has fed the local frustration and led to a flood of angry phone calls and emails to town offices and organizations that are not involved with the memorial.
“This is just destroying them,” Sellitto said of the community groups. “It’s destroying me.”
The committee will meet, clarify the meaning of “actively fishing” in its rules and make a decision about including the Barretts as soon as possible after its final member returns to the country at the end of the month, she said. She has asked fishermen and the Department of Marine Resources for their definition of active fishing to inform the decision.
Sellitto said she understands the hurt that Barretts’ family must feel and she respects the opinions of fishermen about that definition.
