President Donald Trump’s administration has installed a Maine lobsterman as its first-ever “fisherman in residence” in a move that led to criticism from congressional Democrats and a sharply worded defense from U.S. Rep. Jared Golden.
Dustin Delano of Friendship says he is working in an unpaid capacity with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while chairing the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association. The group announced the appointment in January, but it got little attention until it piqued the interest of Democrats this week.
Two members of the committee overseeing NOAA, including Rep. Jared Huffman of Colorado, the panel’s top Democrat, issued a Monday letter saying the position was rife with potential conflicts of interest. Golden, a centrist Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District who has worked closely with Delano’s group, criticized that letter in his own missive to the agency.
“I applaud NOAA for identifying the need for a real harvester, not another bureaucrat, to have a seat at the table and to provide input and clarity on fisheries issues,” he wrote Tuesday.
The appointment comes after a long period of tension between NOAA and the Maine politicians and fishermen who have aligned themselves against limits on fishing aimed at conserving endangered whale populations. The congressional delegation won a six-year pause on those regulations in 2022, taking some of the heat out of the issue.
NEFSA has risen quickly as a force within the Maine and New England fishing communities since it launched in 2023. It has been funded by conservative judicial system architect Leonard Leo, a Republican megadonor whose Concord Fund nonprofit gave the Maine-based association $660,000 in its first year, according to a federal tax form.
Delano made just over $154,000 in salary for NEFSA in 2024, a disclosure says. In a text message, he referred questions from a reporter to NOAA but said his federal role is an unpaid one that NEFSA is bearing travel and other costs for.
A NOAA spokesperson said the job cleared ethics rules by using a type of agreement used often in the federal government, calling the new program one of many ways that the regulator interacts with fishing communities.
“NEFSA is proud to have Dustin at NOAA to represent American fisherman,” Jason Joyce, a fisherman from Swan’s Island who serves as a spokesperson for NEFSA,” wrote in a text message.
The 2022 pause on lobstering regulations has been a consensus issue in Maine but a point of contention for environmentalists. NEFSA has opposed offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, something that Trump looks to have effectively stalled despite aggressive plans from Gov. Janet Mills and other Democratic governors from New England.
In his federal post, Delano has continued to advocate for the industry. For example, he authored a Fox News column calling offshore wind “a foreign takeover of our oceans” and praising the Republican president’s fishery policies.
The Huffman-led letter said Delano’s commentary raises questions about “his impartiality and ability to serve” in the federal government, something Golden said was a policy disagreement that came as an allegation of unethical behavior.
“These accusations, however subtle, reflect the misguided belief that there is nothing government bureaucrats could possibly learn from those working Mainers who actually have lived and fished our coasts for generations,” Golden wrote. “They could not be more wrong.”