Caitlin “Caity” Townsend has a long history in the industry and she just came aboard as our working waterfront organizer.
By Caitlin Townsend
The first day of a 50-hour Marine Resource Education Program, a presenter said something that stuck with me the entire week:
“I am here teaching this topic to a grandson of someone I worked with in this industry.”
The enduring way of life and deep personal connections commercial fishing provides is one reason I chose to work at the Fishermen’s Alliance, and heck, that’s one of the reasons I have chosen to do almost everything I have done in my life.
As daughter and granddaughter of fishermen, I want to make sure young people have the opportunity to be part of an industry that helped shape me and continues to define our coastal communities.
On January 5, I began a new position that will help me do that; Working Waterfront Community Organizer.
My job: Build relationships with commercial fishermen, families, and community allies across Cape Cod and New England.
My goal: Help fishermen and communities build collective power.
I hope to shape policies that protect our livelihoods, traditions, and the marine environment. I admire work my colleagues at the Fishermen’s Alliance have done for years.
One of my first steps was attend this “MREP” course, developed in 2001 to help fishermen understand how fisheries are managed and the science that goes into that. This class was something I dreamed of taking, to explain, in detail, how it all works.
I sat alongside charter boat owners, lifelong commercial fishermen, kayak fishermen. We were there to deepen our understanding of the industry that makes us all get out of bed at ungodly hours and go days without sleep or a proper meal.
We learned how to age fish through otoliths (ear bones). We learned about statistics. All the lessons provided practical understanding of sometimes-convoluted fisheries management. I walked away with valuable insights into how I can better represent fishermen.
I will be working mostly with Aubrey Church, our policy director. When I accepted the job, Aubrey wrote to me that she was excited to work as a team. What she doesn’t know is how grateful I am to work with someone as passionate, driven, and kindhearted as she is. She is not a native to the fishing fleet, but you would never know; the fleet’s wellbeing runs through her veins.
I grew up in Truro, daughter of a commercial fisherman and an artist whose work was inspired by life around the ocean. My childhood centered around fishing, and seafood sales.
My dad operated a fish market and restaurant in Provincetown, “Townsend Lobster and Seafood.” He hauled gear in the mornings and served fish and chips at night. He showed me the industry’s ins and outs, never forcing it on me. But anytime he was leaving to haul or go on a trip I would ask, “Can I go?”
Anytime I was able, I went.
Some of my earliest memories were on the back deck of his boat, F/V Trevor Kane (named after the fictional character in Jimmy Buffet’s book, “Where is Joe Merchant?”). Sometimes I would be strapped with rope and lifejacket to the helm chair to make sure I didn’t go anywhere in rougher weather. I think even then I knew my future would revolve around that way of life, a way I am afraid of seeing go away.
In my cover letter when I applied for this role, I wrote, “Growing up in a small fishing community has shaped every part of who I am, my work ethic, my values, and my purpose. The changes I’ve seen in our fisheries and coastal towns over the years have driven me to dedicate my life to advocating for fishermen, American seafood, and the communities that depend on them.”
My advocacy has taken many forms, from recycling used nets to sharing stories in bars in Alaska after catching sockeye salmon. I’ve traveled from Cape Cod to Brownsville, Texas where we stopped at ports along the way to walk docks and meet fishermen to figure out the viability of net recycling.
These moments led me to seek a journey. My goal is to preserve, protect and empower the fishing industry.