More women are joining Maine’s lobster fleet, breaking down the old stereotype that women are just the fisherman’s wife. Last year, women held 434 of the state’s 5,500-plus lobster licenses, hauling in a catch so physically demanding it has long been considered man’s work, says NPR.
“Maine has a pretty big history of women being involved in the fishery, like in the big schooners,” says Sadie Samuels, 25, who catches lobsters in Maine’s Penobscot Bay. “There were many women who were the navigators of the boats and did all kinds of really awesome stuff. But you don’t ever hear about it.”
She and her sister, Molly Samuel, sell fresh lobster at farmers’ markets, but say they have run into plenty of incredulous customers.
“People would come up to us and be like, ‘So who caught these lobsters?’ ” Molly says. “And we were like, ‘We did.’ And they were like, ‘But who really caught them?’ And we were like, ‘We did.’ And they’d ask, ‘Whose boat?’ and we’d say, ‘Our boat.’ So it’s just this back-and-forth thing. So, yeah, it’s still weird.”