Introducing MLA Associate Director Chris Payne

Chris Payne likes to travel. He just doesn’t necessarily do it as most people do. He travels with his fins or on his feet.

Payne, 44, who grew up in Bedford, Mass., began taking diving lessons at age 14. He and his father studied the sport together at the local pool. “I was obsessed with it,” he recalled. As a freshman at the University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford he passed his SCUBA diving certification that fall in murky 47o Maine water. Since then he has been diving for work and pleasure all over the world, from Hawaii to the Caribbean and New England.

Chris Payne and daughter Chloe.

Payne also runs. He started running when he was a youngster and hasn’t stopped yet. “I’ve done 12 marathons and 21 half-marathons,” he said, plus a few triathlons thrown in. This fall he competed in the New York City Marathon.

Payne graduated from UNE with a degree in marine biology and set out to see the world. He held positions related to science education, fisheries, aquatic life support systems and animal care in Florida, California, and New England, all fine places to work and to dive. He began graduate studies in 2017 at Northeastern University in Boston just six weeks before his daughter was born. Payne received a Master’s degree in Non-profit Leadership in 2019.

Payne, his wife and young daughter moved to Maine in 2022. He was employed as a biologist by Inland Seafood to maintain the company’s 70,000-gallon lobster holding tank in South Portland and serve as the company’s point person for its other holding facilities in Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Houston.

“I love tinkering,” he said. “I love the plumbing side of aquariums, building the tanks, fixing pumps, rebuilding equipment. I like understanding the chemical and biological aspects of filtration systems, what the animals need for care and feeding.”

He also loves being part of a team, a feeling that may have come from his experiences diving. “When you are underwater, there’s a strong need for trust. As I got older I felt confident standing up for team members and helping younger people to succeed in their careers,” he said. In part that is what drew him to the MLA, a small and certainly scrappy organization determined to protect the lobster fishery.

“Even though I’ve been in the industry a couple of years, I’m certainly learning a lot,” he said with a laugh. “I’m enjoying meeting everyone up and down the coast. It’s clear people are here to support the fishery in one way or the other. They want to build a path forward for it to thrive in the future.”