Synopsis

The Fish Belong to the People, a feature length documentary, follows a group of family fishermen in Port Clyde, Maine as they work to save their fishing grounds from government, market structure, and themselves. With each passing season their way of life has slowly been extinguished by old ways of doing business that favors the most efficient and destructive ways of fishing over sustainability.

In the last forty years fishing technology has advanced largely unchecked and without conscious attention to the preservation of the fish stocks. As a result government and big business are slowly pushing small family fishermen out in the name of conservation.

With nothing left to lose, the local fishermen of Port Clyde are trying to stay afloat by finally becoming an environmentally friendly operation. Their proactive association is developing cleaner ways of fishing by reducing their use of powerful technologies at sea. On land they retool how their catch is sold- as a cleaner alternative that comes fresh off the boat straight to the public. Ultimately it is the people as consumers who can buy local seafood and support family-owned boats in their community.
Director’s Statement
I was exiting a Los Angeles freeway when I recieved a call from my father who had just reconnected with Glen Libby, a childhood friend. While visiting back home in Maine, he told me, he had casually decided to check in with Glen after thirty years. It didn’t take long after hearing about Glen’s work with the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association and the struggles his group are facing for him to put two and two together.

Three weeks later I quit my job and drove across the country from Los Angeles to Maine to begin the film.

There’s a Hyler street and Hyler cove all within minutes of Port Clyde and both my father and mother were born and raised in the area, so this was more than a good story– I had a chance to reconnect with an area I’ve spent most of my life away from. As such, it has become a very personal and introspective endevor that I’ve made great effort to treat as respectfully and dignified as possible. My father and our last name helped bring people’s lives into the film that would otherwise have gone excluded. I have been determined to make this film without the use of a narrator so the fishermen could tell their story how they see it, and as a result I believe the film is an honest look into their struggle.