MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2025
Patrick Keliher, Maine's longest-serving commissioner, is leaving his post as chief of the Department of Marine Resources following high-profile tensions with the state's lobster industry. Keliher first landed the DMR post in 2012 picked by Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The regulatory changes have often put Keliher in the position of trying to protect an industry that often argues that lobstermen are capable of regulating themselves. In January, those tensions came to a head when some lobstermen called Keliher a sell-out. He has expressed frustration with what he calls some in the industry's short-term thinking instead of prioritizing protecting the fishery.