Janet Mills Announces Retirement of Marine Resources Commissioner who Yelled ‘F— You’ at Maine Lobstermen

Gov. Janet Mills announced on Tuesday that Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Patrick Keliher, who shouted “F— you” to a fisherman during a public hearing just weeks ago, will retire from his position on March 14.

Keliher, the longest-serving commissioner in the history of DMR, was reappointed by Gov. Mills in 2019, after serving in the position since 2012.

In her Tuesday statement, Mills said that Keliher “served this Administration and the people of Maine with great distinction.”

“Under his leadership, he tackled many significant challenges to Maine’s commercial fisheries and marine industries, while leading an agency that served its many communities and constituencies with honesty and respect,” said Mills.

“Maine’s commercial fisheries and seafood industries, our marine environment, our working waterfronts, and our coastal communities are better today because of Pat’s relentless advocacy for Maine,” Mills said. “I will miss his leadership in my Cabinet and wish him well in his retirement. A native of Gardiner, Pat is also an avid outdoorsman. Now he will have more time for training bird dogs, flyfishing, hunting, and most important, spending time with his family.”

Commissioner Keliher recently stoked controversy after a clip surfaced of him shouting “F— you” to a Maine fisherman during a January public hearing.

The Jan. 9 hearing centered on a proposal to increase the minimum catch size for lobster, that was scrapped after intense backlash from Maine fishermen. In a statement released after the meeting, Keliher said the objective of the proposal was to leave smaller lobsters alive to mature and reproduce, in order to “buffer this vital resource against the effects of a changing climate.”

Opponents of the proposed regulation argued that it would have given an unfair advantage to Canadian lobstermen, who would not have been impacted by the change.

In the video from the meeting, Keliher can be heard saying “I think this is the right thing to do, because the future of the industry is at stake.” After interruptions from the crowd, Keliher repeatedly says “listen to me.”

A person in the crowd then can be heard shouting, “We don’t have to listen to you, you sold out to NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and Canada, why do we have to listen to you?” — to which Commissioner Keliher responds “f— you,” and then says the man can leave the hearing if he doesn’t want to listen.

“After nearly 14 years of dealing with the challenges facing Maine’s marine resources, it’s not the issues I remember most, it’s the people,” said Commissioner Keliher in his own statement on Tuesday. “The issues facing the marine sector are ones not easily solved, which means rolling up your sleeves and having tough conversations about how people make a living on the water and about what Maine has to offer.”

“Through the good times and the bad, I have made lasting friendships up and down the coast. This work and the success of the DMR was made possible only through the hard work and dedication of our employees. I leave this job humbled by these friendships and by my extraordinarily talented staff who I was blessed to work with every day,” Keliher stated.

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation U.S. Sens. Angus King (I) and Susan Collins (R), as well as First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D), issued statements thanking Keliher for his time as DMR commissioner.

Notably, Second District Congressman Jared Golden (D), who advocated against the increase to the minimum lobster catch size, did not issue a statement on Keliher’s retirement.

Gov. Mills is expected to name an acting commissioner for DMR before Keliher’s departure, if a permanent replacement is not yet nominated by March 14.

Any candidate for DMR commissioner will be subject to a hearing before the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee and confirmation by the Maine State Senate.