06/12/2025
🎣 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 J𝙪𝙣𝙚'𝙨 J𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤f 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝... 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧!
Mason was just 12 years old when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools. With lots of time at home and encouragement from his parents, he started going out on the water with his dad, lobsterman David Vintinner. What started as a way to stay busy turned into a calling.
“At first I wasn’t super interested in it because I didn’t like waking up so early,” Mason said. “But I got to be doing it for myself, and I fell in love with it.”
Now 17, Mason is fishing from his third boat, a 29-foot H&H named 𝐴𝑚𝑦 𝐾𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 after his mother. He lobsters out of Chebeague Island, works independently (though dad’s never far away), and is quickly building the hours needed for his full commercial license. He’s also completing his senior year at Freeport High School through a work-study program that balances school and time on the water.
“Lobstering isn’t like an hourly job at a store,” Mason said. “You really have to work to make money.” And he does... saving every dollar and investing in his future. He’s also a huge fan of the Maine lobster boat races, traveling up and down the coast with his family and racing in his dad’s boat 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛.
Mason says it best: “The ocean is my second home. My focus is to grind harder and make money this season.”
This is what the next generation of Maine’s lobstering heritage looks like. 💪🦞
📖 Read the full story at: https://www.mlcalliance.org/post/mla-junior-harvester-mason-vintinner
