Introducing Mattapoisett's new harbormaster: Isaac Perry
Mattapoisett’s new harbormaster has returned to his roots after stops in Dartmouth and Marion and a move to Rochester.
Harbormaster Isaac Perry grew up in Mattapoisett, and while he hasn’t moved that far away over the years, it’s a homecoming of sorts.
“I’ve been the harbormaster in Marion for the last 19 years, and when this opportunity came up here, I thought it was a good fit for me personally,” he said.
He said in Marion, he supported efforts to move the Harbormaster Department under the control of the Police Department due in part to Massachusetts police reform law and the level of training that’s required and because he believes it would become inevitable that all towns will make this change.
When there was some pushback from the town and those efforts were unsuccessful, he decided to move on.
“Mattapoisett on the other hand was moving in the exact direction that we wanted to go, so when the opportunity presented itself, we all put our names in,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to be chosen.”
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Perry said he believes he was successful due to his qualifications including level of training and experience. The three full-time employees in Marion were all interviewed.
Just a few days in the new position, Perry was acclimating to the job, learning the routine of the harbor and the wharf and of the town.
Perry describes his background
Perry attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and has a bachelor’s degree in marine transportation.
He took a summer job working at the New Bedford Yacht Club on Padanaram Harbor that turned into a waterfront manager’s position running the launches, fuel dock and doing maintenance work during the winter.
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He then transitioned to working for Dartmouth Natural Resources focusing in part on shellfish and hunting before becoming the Dartmouth harbormaster and then moving on to become the Marion shellfish officer and harbormaster.
“Each time I moved positions, I was able to do a little bit more, and now I’m really excited to be here,” he said.
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Making the move from Marion to Mattapoisett after 19 years
