Regional Ownership & Organizing Lead

Position Description

Empowering fishermen to build and invest in

a thriving future for their communities.

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Regional Ownership & Organizing Lead

Maybe you've watched The Deadliest Catch or Wicked Tuna. Maybe you've seen the boats out at the horizon from the beach and wondered what they're doing. Fishermen work at the last frontier, battling weather, rising costs, and the vast expanse of the ocean to bring in healthy, sustainable seafood for America's food system. But their livelihoods are at risk. Catch Together and our community partner organizations–the Gulf of America Reef Shareholders’ Alliance, Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association–are building a new model for cooperative ownership in commercial fisheries. We are on the forefront of innovation to develop opportunities for independent fishing businesses and their communities to access, manage and control their coastal resources.

We are seeking relationship driven leaders, organizers, entrepreneurs and institution founders to help build an ambitious social enterprise and movement to secure the future of fishing with coastal communities across the country. Will you be the one to help us realize our vision?

Regional Ownership & Organizing Lead

Location: Gulf of America, New England, or Southeast Alaska (Hybrid)

About:

Across America, coastal communities are losing ownership, influence, and control over the resources that shape their future. At Catch Together, we believe communities are strongest when the people closest to the work have the power to make decisions, build wealth, and shape their own destiny.

Catch Together is a nonprofit organization working with community-based organizations across the US to build a new model of community ownership in commercial fishing. We help create innovative ownership models that enable hardworking people to build strong businesses, determine the future of their resources, and invest in collective solutions for coastal communities. Alongside our partners in the Gulf of America, New England, and Alaska, we are starting a movement to support the next generation of fishery leaders, business owners, and ocean stewards across North America.

This position(s) will work with the nation’s leading fishermen’s organizations including the Gulf of America Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.

What we can achieve together:

We are looking for dynamic, relationship-driven leaders, organizers, entrepreneurs, and institution builders who think big and will bring people together around a transformative vision. We are building a cooperative ownership system within fisheries to put power in the hands of working people, transition capital flows from extractive to regenerative, and provide a platform for fishermen to invest collectively in solutions for their communities. The Lead(s) will work alongside extraordinary people and organizations to build the trusting relationships, leadership, and culture necessary to launch this new system.

What matters most is your ability to earn trust, build bridges, and lead people to achieve collective solutions.

This is not a traditional role. You will not spend your days behind a desk. You will spend them on the docks and back of boats, developing leaders, bringing people together around a shared vision, and helping fishermen create institutions that can determine the future of their communities. Any given week may include walking the docks before sunrise, joining fishermen on the water, facilitating a leadership meeting, strategizing, and working with fishermen to build campaigns and organizations that secure the future of fish stocks and fishing communities. The systems developed through this work have the potential to influence coastal communities across the country.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build strong, trusting relationships with and between people
• Build bridges and activate stakeholders to align around transformative goals
• Identify leaders and strengthen local leadership capacity to build power
• Innovate and launch new institutions, initiatives, and ownership structures alongside respected fishermen
• Design creative financing and ownership models to support strong businesses, cooperative ownership, and sustainable growth
• Coordinate campaigns, gatherings, and collaborative initiatives
• Tell powerful stories across multiple mediums

Who thrives in this role:

The strongest candidates may come from start ups, organizing, entrepreneurship, community development, conservation, labor, or entirely different fields. What matters most is a demonstrated ability and passion to lead, build trust, and bring people together.

Ideal candidates will be:

• Experienced in building things bigger than themselves - organizations, businesses, campaigns, coalitions, community efforts, or movements
• Energized by genuine human connection and creating authentic, trusting relationships across diverse communities
• Solutions-driven with comfort working in ambiguity
• Self-starters with demonstrated ability to launch and lead initiatives from concept through execution
• Superb communicators, comfortable working with multiple audiences and serving as a bridge across individuals, participants, and organizations
• Bring optimism, humility, and joy to working with people
• Energized by travel, new experiences, and spending time where people live and work
• Comfort navigating conflict, competing interests, and difficult conversations
• Familiarity or interest in cooperative models, community-based work, or rural community organizing
• Storytellers with a passion for sharing authentic human stories - experience conducting interviews, producing podcasts, taking photos or film is a plus

Experience in fishing and existing relationships with commercial fishermen and fishing communities is welcome but not required. We are looking for exceptional builders, organizers, and leaders who are excited to learn and help people shape the future of their communities for generations.

What we offer:

This is a rare opportunity to help build community ownership alongside some of the most extraordinary fishermen, organizers, and community leaders in the country.

The role will begin with an incubator program designed to strengthen a cohort of leaders working on this vision around the country with the following skills and knowledge:

• Organizing,
• Leadership development,
• Conflict resolution,
• Fisheries knowledge,
• Catch Share and quota systems,
• Cooperative governance

You will receive:

• significant responsibility from day one to shape strategy and execute,
• extensive mentorship and leadership development through the incubator program,
• connection to a national cohort of organizers and leaders,
• the opportunity to shape a growing national effort to strengthen ownership, stewardship, and self-determination in commercial fishing communities.

Structure: These are full-time, exempt hybrid positions based in one of our three regions - New England, Gulf of America, or Southeast Alaska.

Extensive travel within that region is required to meaningfully engage with participants, requiring some longer stays (1-2 weeks) and occasional evenings and weekends. The rhythm of fishing communities does not always align with traditional business hours.

This position works closely with:

• Alaska Region - Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust based in Sitka, AK
• Gulf Region - Shareholders’ Alliance (remote), with members spanning Texas to Florida
• New England Region - Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association based in Brunswick, ME & Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance based in Chatham, MA

While the organizer will be spending significant time on the ground building relationships with fishermen, expanding the reach of work in the region, and fostering trust between fishermen, they do not have to be from their region of work. We seek the most qualified candidates regardless of where they are located in the United States.

Compensation: Catch Together and our partner organizations are committed to providing competitive salary ($70,000-$100,000), depending on experience

We recognize that exceptional candidates bring different experiences. Depending on a candidate's background, demonstrated leadership, and regional needs, we may hire into roles with varying levels of responsibility and leadership.

How to Apply:

All applicants should complete their application here, including a resume and optional cover letter.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Priority applications are due on August 7, 2026.