MLA Junior Harvester

Colby Morrill, 11, likes to be outside. He lobsters after school and on the weekends with his father Deven aboard his 22-foot Beals Island out of Pine Point in Scarborough. The boat was once owned by renowned fisherman Fred Bayley. Deven was a close friend of Fred and helped in his later years of lobstering. Young Colby went with him, beginning at the age of two.

Colby with Fred's old boat. Photos courtesy of D. Merrill.

“Yes, he was in the car seat on the boat,” Deven laughed. Deven, who is an arborist with Lucas Tree, would take his son with him after work to haul traps with Fred in the afternoon and on the weekends. The boy soon loved being on the boat.

“I grew up on fishing,” Colby said enthusiastically. “I get to do what I love and I make money too. I’m saving for a new boat and a new engine.”

Colby learned his lobstering skills from a legend in the Maine fishing world. Fred Bayley, who died at age 83 in 2021, started out lobstering and clamming then went on to become a fishing highliner. He owned and operated a series of lobster boats, tuna boats and groundfishing trawlers throughout a long career at sea. As he got older and dementia set in, Fred continued to lobster when he could. Bayley was a longstanding member of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Fred Bayley and Colby Merrill.

“In the early stages of dementia, when he was lobstering he was at peace, and having Colby at his side gave him a sense of purpose he seemed to lack on land,” Deven said. With Fred’s death and his son Tom’s death later the same year, the boat sat dormant until the winter of 2023. It was that winter Colby decided he was going to restore it, and with the help of a local sponsor, start lobstering again. So that’s what Deven and Colby have been doing for the past two years.

Lobstering is physically hard, as Colby quickly learned. “I have fifty traps now. And pulling traps is a workout! But I’m getting stronger,” he said. He’s learned a few important lessons during his years of lobstering. “Be careful! Don’t grab a line with the hauler on. Don’t lean over the rail too far.”

He’s also seen some curious things while hauling his traps. “Sometimes we get a lobster with a third claw. That’s cool,” he said. Finding bait bags covered with huge sea fleas, however, is not so cool.

Colby is looking forward to getting back out on the water soon. In the meantime, he’s getting his traps ready, as so many other lobstermen are doing this month. He has a clear idea of what he wants to do when he is older, and that involves being outdoors. “I want to lobster because I love it and I can make money to live on. But I might be a game warden too.”