Steaming Ahead | April 2026

What a great Fisherman’s Forum! It is certainly one of my favorite times of year. It was so great to see all the friends I’ve made there over time, the people you only see at the Forum. My wife Abbi and I have been going for at least 17 years and my two sons, Damon and Kaden, for the last 12 years or so.

Sonny Beal, MLA board chair. Photo by G. Rybus.

This year’s Forum, however, was a little more special in several ways. We had Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, the head of NOAA Fisheries, as a guest speaker at the MLA annual meeting. It was a great opportunity for fishermen to hear directly from him and to ask him questions. I had several opportunities to talk with Eugenio. He’s a fisherman just like us. In Puerto Rico he fished for yellow fin, grouper, red snapper and spiny lobster.

He’s a normal guy who’s easy to talk to, especially about fishing, and just like the rest of us, wants what’s best for the fishing industry.

On Friday afternoon the MLA had its second annual MLA social, which is proving to be a very fun event. It’s a chance for people to hang out, enjoy a cocktail and talk business or policy or whatever with a person you don’t normally have a chance to talk to. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King made an appearance and got to talk to lobstermen and their families as well.

Last but not least, I took the helm at the MLA annual meeting and became chairman of the board of directors.

This step has been a long time coming. For as long as I’ve been on the board of the MLA guys have been asking me when I was going to take the helm. You see, my father, Ossie Beal, was president of the MLA from 1967-1974 so people just assumed that eventually I would do it as well. Call it destiny, call it legacy, call it whatever you want, here I am. He said one time that his goal was to make the Maine fishery “the best thing there is on the coast.”

All I can hope for is that I do as good a job as the past leaders of this organization have done and be a leader who my father would be proud of.

That being said, I have full confidence that I can do it for three reasons. The first is because of the board of directors. The MLA board is very diverse, with lobstermen of all ages from all parts of the coast. They are fully involved in their communities and conscientious about paying attention to what’s going on. And these guys show up. Our monthly meetings in Belfast are always well attended. We talk a lot and argue more and then make decisions that are best for the fishery as a whole, not any specific harbor or person.

Second is the support of two past presidents, Dave Cousens and Kristan Porter, and MLA executive director Patrice McCarron. They have been giving me advice for the past few years and are always willing to bend an ear whenever I need it. Their years of experience have given them a ton of knowledge and having them willing to pass that along is something I’m grateful for.

And the third is, I’m a lot like my father. Whatever comes into my mind usually comes out of my mouth. Good, bad or indifferent, no one will ever have to wonder what I’m thinking.

For those of you who don’t know me, and I’m sure most of you reading this probably don’t, I live on beautiful Beals Island. No, I don’t own the island — I get that question a lot. I was on the board of directors for the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative and am currently the Beals-Jonesport Co-op board president.

I fish from a 40-foot Young Brothers that my father built in the spring of 1980 outside in his dooryard. This is the boat I grew up on. I learned how to fish with him teaching me everything he knew. After he passed, I bought the boat and still can’t picture myself owning anything else. It’s a piece of family heritage where I taught my boys to fish. I’ve since rebuilt everything except for the hull and fish mostly trawls in federal waters and some pairs and triples up inside.

Becoming the chair of the MLA is something I’ve been hesitant about since I got on the board. Not because of confidence, but because of the time and energy it takes to do the job. I’m a family man. Both boys were very heavily involved in sports in their younger years, especially basketball. Yes, believe it or not, we love basketball here on Beals Island. I figured I wouldn’t be able to give the job my full attention because I’m not one to miss any games.

Now the boys are 18 and 20 with their basketball careers behind them, so that gives me the ability to attend meetings instead of games. And that’s something this job is going to be full of — meetings, interviews and standing on a dock somewhere talking to lobstermen, one on one. I’m not going to have all the answers for sure, but I will have a board of directors and a small but mighty MLA staff who will be there to help me find them.

I would like to thank everyone who congratulated me on becoming MLA board chair. There were people stopping me in the hallways at the Forum shaking my hand and giving me a pat on t

he back. Some I knew and others, I had no clue who they were. I feel like not knowing people is going to be a common occurrence for a while until I get settled into this new role.

So if you see me at a meeting or somewhere say ‘Hi’ and if you don’t want to, that’s alright too. Just remember that the MLA will always be there fighting for you and now I’ll be there too.