SAVE DEREK FISHER: A New Hampshire Fisherman is Being Destroyed by Bureaucracy

Derek Fisher has spent his life doing one thing: fishing the waters off New Hampshire with grit, honor, and unrelenting hard work. He is one of the last few year-round commercial lobstermen left in the state. He fishes Federal waters way out beyond NH’s coastline and he does this to stay alive and pay his bills. He fishes alone. He hauls huge traps by hand. He fights through chronic pain.

And now, because he was roughly two weeks late filing a piece of paper while recovering from a crippling back injury, the Pease Port Authority (a division of the New Hampshire state government) is trying to end his livelihood.

This is not an exaggeration. This is not a misunderstanding. This is bureaucratic cruelty in its purest form.

Despite owning the mooring block where his boat rests, Derek has been told by the Port Authority that he cannot use it. Why? Because he filed a renewal form a tad too late during a period of time when he physically unable to stand.

No mercy. No humanity. No fine or penalty he could pay to make the situation right.

If you miss filing your car registration by a few weeks, the state doesn’t take away your ability to drive does it? Well it did in this case!

They know this will destroy him. And they don’t care.

We do.

This GoFundMe exists for one reason: to help Derek fight back. Your donation will be used to:

• Hire legal counsel to challenge this heartless decision and defend Derek’s right to work.

• Help Derek survive. And if lawyers say the case is unwinnable, the funds will be used simply to keep this man alive.

• Relocate his mooring, if another suitable location does truly become available (right now due to the 40’ size of his boat that’s uncertain), moving the block will cost many thousands of dollars. The funds will also be used to help purchase a new (larger) dinghy to safely traverse the longer distance and access it from shore.

Derek is at the edge of losing everything. And all because he was injured and missed a form with a confusing renewal due date that didn’t even match the expiration date of the permit. That’s not justice. That’s evil with a signature on it.

If you want to learn the full, heartbreaking story, please visit:

www.fisherlobster.com

Please…stand with us. Help us save one of the last true New Hampshire fishermen before the system finishes what it started and destroys this man’s life once and for all.

Every dollar is a vote against mindless cruelty. Every share is a lifeline.

Let’s show Derek he’s not alone.

Yours sincerely,

Friends of Derek Fisher