Two fishermen’s wives, Monique Coombs and Rebecca Spear, are working together to collect seafood recipes, photos, and stories, to create the “Maine Coast Fishing Families Seafood Cookbook.” Together they will share the flavor of opportunities that Maine’s seafood has to offer and proceeds will benefit the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA).

Similar cookbooks have been done in the past in Maine. One such cookbook was “The Maine Fishermen’s Wives Association Seafood Cookbook,” which benefitted the wives’ efforts to promote the importance of the fishing industry. Their reasoning for the effort is noted in the cookbook and it states, “A small group of wives decided they could increase their awareness of the industry by combining efforts … They were then able to supply current information to their husbands, represent them at meetings, keep in touch with their government representatives, and help conduct the land-side of the business as efficiently as possible.” The group also conducted efforts to increase recognition of the Maine fishing industry by starting the Portland Blessing of the Fleet, and a large part of their efforts were to promote seafood, “especially the under-utilized species.”

Their advocacy work is like the work conducted by the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association today. MCFA’s goal is to ensure that Maine's fishing communities can thrive today, tomorrow, and forever. MCFA does this by advocating for policies and regulations that create healthy and sustainable fisheries, securing access to the working waterfront, attending meetings on behalf of fishermen, and promoting the businesses owned and operated by Maine fishermen.

“I'm so excited about this project,” says Rebecca Spear. “For years I've been using my Fishermen's Wives Cookbook and daydreamed about resurrecting the tradition. This is going to be an amazing collaboration celebrating the fishing community and showcasing local seafood with timeless and salty recipes. The best part is that all proceeds will benefit the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, supporting their efforts to continue to conserve Maine's working waterfront and family fishing businesses.”

The deadline to submit your seafood recipes is June 24 and they can be sent to monique@aragostamama.com or rebeccarspear@gmail.com

The cookbook will be done in time for the holiday season.