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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 11
July 2006
Editorial
Nelson Beideman: Leadership at its best
These aren’t the easiest times for commercial fishermen. Fuel and gear costs are rising. Waterfront access is harder to come by. Some fleets are downsizing. And fishing practices are under relentless scrutiny from environmental groups.
For these reasons and more, many fishermen increasingly rely on the people who lead associations to track complicated regulations, go to endless meetings, and advocate with conviction for their respective fisheries.
With all the pressures they face, it’s no surprise that effective and committed industry leaders are rare and precious.
Nelson Beideman, who died on May 25 at the age of 53, was a man who epitomized what leadership was all about.
As executive director of Blue Water Fishermen’s Association, he represented large pelagic longliners – the people who fish for Atlantic swordfish, tunas, and sharks – at a time when sportfishermen and environmentalists were intent on making them the pariahs of the fishing world.
They never succeeded in putting that label on the US Atlantic swordfish fleet because Nelson Beideman wouldn’t let them. He represented his fishermen in a way that earned him the respect and admiration of everyone – including his opponents – who watched him work.
Known to many as “Hammer,” the foundation of Nelson’s effectiveness was that he knew how to fish. As a teenaged deckhand and later on his own boat, the Terri Lei, he worked the real “blue water” where the big fish were found. He knew how they acted. He knew what would happen when the phase of the moon changed or water temperature varied by a degree or two.
Nelson was ashore the day his boat went down in 1993. He stayed ashore from then on but he never lost his sea sense. It drove him and gave him the will and stamina to fight fiercely for what he thought was right.
Perhaps most important of all, Nelson did his homework. He studied stock assessments and regulations and he knew the law. This put him on equal footing in discussions with scientists and managers here and abroad, especially at ICCAT, and allowed him to negotiate effectively and with confidence.
On the pages of CFN this month, Jon Lien, a world renowned whale researcher, offers fishermen what he thinks is his most important piece of advice: Don’t be in denial.
Nelson Beideman figured this out a long time ago. He never denied facts. He was brutally honest, which at times made a few of his members swallow hard. When he came to know that swordfish were overfished, he decided the stock had to be rebuilt, and that was that. It was for the good of his industry, and he convinced the fleet with straightforward talk that it was the right thing to do.
When other countries violated international regulations, he demanded punitive action. He worked day and night and never complained.
He did all this with a lot of help from his members and friends, and especially from Terri, his wife of over 30 years. Terri Beideman kept up with every swordfish issue. She kept Blue Water’s officers and directors grounded, and she kept Nelson steady, too, mainly when his zeal fired to the surface. Together, they made a formidable team.
Blue Water didn’t always win despite everything Nelson gave to the battles. The fleet is much smaller than it once was, but it’s still fishing. And many people who lived through the turbulent times say the very reason this fleet exists at all is because of Nelson Beideman.
We can learn some powerful lessons from this man who was a role model for leadership. To the end, he stayed true to himself, the industry, his people, and the fish. He was one of a kind. /cfn/
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