The Endangered Lobstermen: Vinalhaven Island, Maine

The heart of the Maine lobster industry beats in small coastal communities like Vinalhaven—where generations have hauled traps, braved the weather, and passed down hard-earned knowledge. As part of my ongoing documentary photo series The Endangered Lobstermen, I’ve been honored to meet and photograph fishermen whose lives are deeply tied to the ocean, their boats, and their families.

Jake Watt is one of those people.

“I’m a 2nd generation lobstermen and have been a part of the Maine lobster industry my whole life. Lobster fishing is a community effort out here. We all help and teach each other and each other’s kids. I started fishing with my father, then jumped around learning how everyone does their own thing. I grabbed what I liked from each boat that I worked on.
I have been on my own for 10 years.
The biggest challenges I face as a lobstermen are rules and regulations that get harder to follow every year. On this island this is all we have for jobs once you are invested in the business like most of us are.
The future of the industry is worrisome. I try to be optimistic but just from what I have seen happen in a short amount of time I have been looking and preparing to maybe(hopefully not) to have to leave this island to support a family of six.”
— Jake Watt, F/V P.AR.A.DISE, Vinalhaven, Maine

Jake’s story is just one of many I’ve been documenting through portraits and personal interviews for this project. These lobstermen aren’t just workers—they are stewards of the ocean, small business owners, mentors, and culture keepers. But their way of life is under pressure. Climate change, federal regulations, and economic uncertainty are threatening more than just a job—they’re threatening an identity that has shaped the Maine coast for generations.

The Endangered Lobstermen is my way of giving visibility to this hardworking community—of putting faces to the voices often left out of the policy conversations. Through photography and storytelling, I hope to preserve a record of their resilience and to raise awareness about what’s at stake.