ROCKLAND — Sgt. Marlowe Sonksen of the Maine Marine Patrol didn’t grow up around lobsters. A Mainer by choice, Sonksen chose the career out of a desire to protect natural resources and a love for the water. Over the course of a couple of conversations earlier this summer, he often came back around to how an effective marine patrol officer needs to be a true member of his or her community. This can mean maintaining a sense of perspective.
“I went to school in Iowa,” he said. “When I graduated with a biology degree I was looking for a science job on the ocean. I actually physically laid out a map of the United States and thought, ‘Where do I want to move?'” and chose Maine. “I picked up the first Sunday paper I saw once I was in Maine; there was a position open for a marine patrol officer, and I applied. That was in 1985.”
Sonksen recalled an incident years ago where he found himself in possession of an illegal lobster.
“We were having a family get-together and I bought six or eight dozen lobsters from one of the local retailers—a place that’s long gone, by the way, and the owner has passed on, so nobody will mind me telling this story.
“When I got home I noticed that one of them seemed smaller than it ought to be. I was a new guy, you know, so I got out my lobster measure and sure enough, it was short—and now I’m in possession of it. The following day I took it back to the store. The store owner knew who I was, I’d been in to check his lobster tanks before, and obviously he didn’t intend to sell me a short lobster. Nobody would. I can’t remember whether I had to write him a warning for one short lobster or not, but I continued to be one of his customers and he did continue to sell me lobsters after that.”
The sergeant and his officers grasp the difference between a slip-up and the intent to profit from illegal fishing.
“On one occasion we happened to see a man standing chest deep in water hauling on something. That seemed odd, so we watched, and it was a lobster crate. It was actually six crates of lobsters; he had 500-plus short lobsters, 100 percent short. They were headed to a restaurant in Skowhegan where they figured the customers wouldn’t know the difference. That was not the same as one short lobster by accident!”
Sonksen explained how a marine patrol officer’s job requires both a love for the outdoors and an interest in the local community.
“We should walk onto a wharf and just talk to people about whatever, anything at all, rather than starting out with ‘Let’s see your lobsters!'” he said.
“Marine patrol officers are assigned a small area, a few towns. They’re responsible for knowing pretty much everything that goes on in that area, fishing-wise. They get to know people, they go to the store, go to the Little League games; they become familiar with every brook, every cove, they recognize everybody’s truck,” Sonksen said.
“We have been doing ‘community policing’ for many years. Lobstermen know that we’re out there protecting the lobsters and their gear, and that we’ll help them in an emergency, an engine breakdown, anything like that.”
During a visit to the Rockland office, a fisherman of very advanced age stopped in to personally pick up an application for a lobster license. As he passed the form to the old gentleman, Sonksen smiled at him and asked, “Have you had a lobster license before?” The man left after assuring the sergeant that his “boys” do “a good job.”
“Our role is to protect the resources for the licensed harvesters and from abuse,” Sonksen explained. “We can’t do our enforcement job without a good relationship with the law-abiding community members. Somebody might quietly say to an officer, ‘You might want to be over there around 8 o’clock tonight, and just see what happens.’ We want people to feel comfortable calling us when something’s wrong.”
As much as the marine patrol wants that telephone to ring when somebody knows of a real problem, Sonksen betrayed a sense of humor as he mentioned an easy way to gauge the stress level among the lobster fishermen.
“When the price is alright and they’re making money, that phone isn’t ringing off the hook so much with guys complaining about each other,” he said.