Col. Fessenden to Retire after 40 Years in Maine Marine Patrol

Maine Marine Patrol Colonel Joe Fessenden is retiring after 40 years of patrolling the Maine coast. “The relationship between Marine Patrol and industry is good because of the culture Joe has built.” – Long Island lobsterman, Steve Train. DMR photo

DMR Press Release—Colonel Joe Fessenden, who began his career in the Maine Marine Patrol in 1975, will retire in January after 40 years enforcing Maine’s marine resources laws while building relations with the communities in which he worked.

“It has been my privilege to work with Colonel Fessenden,” said Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “His leadership has made the Marine Patrol stronger and better positioned for the unique challenges of law enforcement along the Maine coast.”

Fessenden will be replaced by Major Jon Cornish, a 30-year veteran of the Marine Patrol who has served as deputy chief since 2013.

Fessenden first became interested in a career in the Marine Patrol as a result of the conversations he had with family friend Fred Reeves, a game warden who lived near his family on outer Essex Street in Bangor. “I was talking to him one time and he asked me what I liked to do and I told him I was really interested in working on the coast, and he brought up the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries.” That reference to what would years later become the Maine Department of Marine Resources sparked a lifelong interest for Fessenden.

After graduating from Bangor High School in 1971, a job making delivery runs for Jordan Meats not only took him to the coast, it also set him firmly on his career path. “I ran across a lot of fishermen that worked in downeast Maine and came across Sea and Shore Fisheries wardens. Whenever I got a chance, I would talk to them about the job and it sounded pretty interesting to me.”

Fessenden enrolled in the law enforcement program at the University of Maine at Bangor. Graduating two years later, he was still too young, at 20, to be hired for work in law enforcement. So he took a job with the Department of Agriculture, biding his time until he became eligible at 21 to work in law enforcement.

“I immediately applied for the state police and for a position as a coastal warden, but I was most interested in the Coastal Warden Service,” said Fessenden. After successfully completing both the physical aptitude test and the written examination, he was placed on the register for the coastal warden position.

In May 1975, he got another letter, this time on department stationary with a job offer. “I felt overwhelmed. I felt proud,” said Fessenden.

He quickly rose through the ranks, receiving a promotion to sergeant, then lieutenant in southern Maine, where, for 20 years, he balanced the sometimes competing roles of confidant and law enforcement professional. “I became part of the community. I went to funerals and weddings. But I never crossed that line between being an enforcer and a friend of a fisherman,” he said.

“The relationship between Marine Patrol and industry is good because of the culture Joe has built,” said Long Island lobsterman Steve Train, who has known Fessenden since the 1970s. “The trust established under his leadership will live on long after he retires.”

In 1994, Fessenden was promoted to chief, a position he has held since. During that time he has remained focused on the core mission of the Marine Patrol. “Over my career, we’ve had a lot of different roles, but we always go back to why we’re here and that’s to work with the commercial fishing industry and help protect the resource,” said Fessenden.

Among his accomplishments, Fessenden counts the greatly improved fleet of patrol vessels as one of the most important. “I’ve made it a priority to make sure the Marine Patrol has vessels that can go out in sometimes extreme conditions and the training necessary to enforce all of our conservation laws,” said Fessenden.

He added, “If you want to be part of something, if you want to fill a critical role that now, more than ever, is needed, it’s an unbelievable opportunity.”