{"id":5791,"date":"2014-12-23T13:13:26","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T18:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/?p=5791"},"modified":"2014-12-23T16:53:38","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T21:53:38","slug":"col-joe-fessenden-to-retire-after-40-years-with-maine-marine-patrol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/col-joe-fessenden-to-retire-after-40-years-with-maine-marine-patrol\/","title":{"rendered":"Col. Joe Fessenden to retire after 40 years with Maine Marine Patrol"},"content":{"rendered":"

[metaslider id=5794]<\/p>\n

HALLOWELL, ME \u2013 Col. Joe Fessenden, chief of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Bureau of Marine Patrol, will be stepping down from his top-command post on Jan. 9, making way for Maj. Jon Cornish, the bureau\u2019s current deputy chief, to take over in a smooth transition that has been over a year-and-a-half in the making.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fessenden says he knows \u201cit\u2019s time\u201d to retire, and he is extremely proud of the way he and Cornish teamed up to ensure a seamless \u201csuccession\u201d from one chief to the next.<\/p>\n

But he also knows that Jan. 9 will be a bittersweet day.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard for a man who has spent four decades on the force \u2013 almost his entire adult life \u2013 to simply let go.<\/p>\n

While rising through the ranks from \u201ccoastal warden\u201d to sergeant to lieutenant on up, Fessenden became more and more rooted in the fishing community itself.\u00a0 The relationships he forged with fishermen and their families became part of his daily being.\u00a0 Stepping out of this world and into what lies ahead will take a bit of getting used to, he admits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like fishermen and I like being part of the community,\u201d Fessenden said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to miss that.\u201d<\/p>\n

To this day, Fessenden never ceases to marvel at how his life turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere I was, a kid from Bangor, ME with no experience along the coast, and I was able to rise through the ranks and build a whole career here,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cThe fact that I was given the chance to do this job, I\u2019ll always be grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fessenden was young when he got his start.\u00a0 He graduated from Bangor High School in 1971 and knew even back then that he wanted to be a coastal warden.\u00a0 He went to the University of Maine at Bangor and graduated from its two-year law enforcement program.<\/p>\n

But at age 20, he was still too young to apply for a warden position.\u00a0 So, biding time, Fessenden took on a job with the Maine Department of Agriculture, where he spent eight months or so as an egg inspector.<\/p>\n

He was assigned to \u201cQuality Egg\u201d \u2013 the early operation of the eventual DeCoster egg-producing giant headed by the notorious Jack DeCoster, who earned a reputation as a flagrant violator of health and safety regulations involving both his chickens and his employees.<\/p>\n

\"CFN_1_15_Cover\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the rest of this story and much, much more in the January issue of\u00a0Commercial Fisheries News<\/em>. \u00a0Buy this issue or\u00a0Subscribe<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0[add_to_cart=5805]<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Read online immediately with access key and download for future reference.)<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[metaslider id=5794] HALLOWELL, ME \u2013 Col. Joe Fessenden, chief of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Bureau of Marine Patrol, will be stepping down from his top-command post on Jan. 9, making way for Maj. Jon Cornish, the bureau\u2019s current deputy chief, to take over in a smooth transition that has been over a … <\/p>\n

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