Kristan Porter began lobstering in high school, but the Cutler fisherman took a break after high school when he considered becoming a teacher and then gave some of Maine’s other fisheries a try.

The 47-year-old expected to be named Friday as the president of Maine Lobstermen’s Association spent years dragging for clams, urchins and scallops before he went back to lobstering in the 1990s.

While his presidency isn’t assured – others could be nominated today at the Maine Lobstermen’s Association annual meeting at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport – sitting President Dave Cousens said Porter is next.

“Kristan is smart, articulate and knows how to get (expeletive) done,” he said. “It isn’t going to be easy taking over right now. We’re facing the right whale thing. Landings can’t keep going up forever. It’s time for new blood.”

Porter is well-known in the industry for his work and conservation ethic, Cousens said. “I work hard to catch fish and to make sure my kids will be able to catch fish, too,” Porter says on his Twitter profile.

Porter learned to advocate on behalf of his fishery and those earning a living from it at a young age. In 1994, at the age of 24, Porter helped to form the Maine Draggermen’s Association.

Porter was active in the Maine Fishing Industry Development Center to promote diversification among the local groundfishing fleet, lessons that could be applied to the lobster fishery in case landings decline as some scientific forecasting models predict it will.

As the head of a scallopers group, Porter joined the board of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, the group that organizes the three-day conference that is the lobstering industry’s biggest event of the year.

Porter, who is a father of three and still lives in Cutler, became president of the forum in 2009, which means he is organizing the event where he will take over as the MLA president.

Penelope Overton can be contacted at 791-6463 or at:

poverton@pressherald.com

Twitter: PLOvertonPPH