Republican from Winter Harbor has been fined more than $6,000 by the Maine Department of Labor
AUGUSTA, Maine —
The Maine Department of Labor has fined Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, $6,136.
This is a result of Faulkingham allowing a 14-year-old to work on his lobster boat on four separate occasions in 2024, which violates state law because working on a lobster boat has been deemed dangerous for a minor.
State law also mandates recording daily logs of the hours worked by minors. Documents show that Faulkingham did not do that.
Faulkingham spoke with Maine's Total Coverage on Monday and said it is common to bring young people out on a lobster boat. He also claimed the inspection and resulting fine was politically motivated.
"This is absolute political weaponization of the Department of Labor," Faulkingham said. "They have applied a standard to me that has never been applied to anyone in the industry. This is the first time that they have done this."
The New England Fisherman's Stewardship Association (NEFSA) is standing in support of Faulkingham, calling the Department of Labor's enforcement action "unprecedented."
"This decision sends a clear and troubling message to fishermen across Maine," NEFSA Vice President John Drouin, a lobsterman from Cutler, said in a statement. "My sons grew up on the lobster boat as children, learning by doing and serving as apprentices to my work, just like countless other kids along the coast. That is not exploitation. That is...
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