Editorial: To our friend, Robin – Our thanks and best wishes

Earlier this month, friends, family, industry colleagues, and former employees gathered for an evening of celebration to mark the retirement of Robin Alden.

Robin, as most of you know, has been a remarkable force in fisheries here in Maine and throughout the region for more than four decades.

Her career spans three significant phases, beginning in the 1970’s when she co-founded, and then went on to serve as publisher and editor, the publication that eventually evolved into Commercial Fisheries News.

In the 1990’s, she left CFN to take a position in Maine Gov. Angus King’s administration, serving as Commissioner of Marine Resources.

Leaving the DMR post during King’s second term, Robin then moved on to be the founding executive director of the Stonington-based non-profit, Penobscot East Resource Center, which has recently rebranded itself as the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries.

Fiercely passionate about fisheries in general, and about engaging fishermen in the management and regulatory process in particular, Robin has clearly left her mark and touched many lives over her long and impressive career.

Nowhere is that more true than right here at CFN.

We will leave it to others to define what Robin’s lasting legacy will be.  But for us here at the paper she will be always be best remembered, fondly, for being the catalyst that brought us all together.

Robin has a gift for recruiting and inspiring the very best.  The crew that she assembled during her tenure at CFN is a shining example of that.

For years, decades even, that team has worked tirelessly and passionately to make CFN the best it can be.

Along the way, we all grew up together; got married and sometimes divorced; had kids, watched them grow up, leave the nest, and have kids of their own; and stood side by side during times of triumph and sorrow.

As is inevitable, our crew has come and gone over the years, as CFN has evolved, along with the lives and careers of those who make her happen every month.

But regardless of whether you are a current or former member of the CFN crew, odds are each and every one of us would say we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Robin Alden.

Thank you, Robin for your vision, your friendship, and your commitment to this newspaper, this industry, and this very special crew.

While those of us who know you well find it hard to imagine you will ever “retire” in the conventional sense, we do join in wishing you all the very best as you begin this next chapter in your life.

Cheers and good tidings!   /cfn/