ROCKLAND, Maine — The city’s longtime director of the municipal fish pier will be retiring at the end of June.
Al Gourde, who has worked for the city for 14 years, submitted his resignation last week and announced he intends to retire as of June 30.
City Manager James Chaousis praised Gourde for his service to the community.
Gourde is a Rumford native who served in the Coast Guard for 30 years. During his service, he was executive officer of both the buoy tender White Lupine that was based in Rockland and the tug Snohomish, which also was based in Rockland. He was executive officer when the Snohomish was decommissioned.
The longtime director of the pier said the most significant change he has seen in 14 years at the pier is the decline in the amount of herring being unloaded at the dock. When he started, there were as many as five herring boats working at the pier. Now there are two.
Chaousis said he is considering merging the fish pier department with the harbor and waterfront department. This would likely mean the assistant harbormaster also would be the fish pier director, Chaousis said.
“I am running some analyses and will report further when I know more,” the manager said in his weekly report issued Monday.
The manager also said a candidate has tentatively accepted the job as harbor master and he expects to announce who it is when the hiring is complete. The new person would replace veteran harbor master Ed Glaser who was fired last month, a few weeks short of retirement. Glaser had been harbor master for 12 years.