Gifts of the Sea | Inside Yankee

From the day I first came to Yankee, back in 1979, I have seen thousands of photographs of New England. This region teems with photographers telling stories with their cameras. It’s not simply what they see; it’s also how they see. But in all my years here, I have never been so surprised, so astonished, as when I saw the work of a Maine fisherman named Joel Woods (“A Hard Life Made Beautiful,”).

I hadn’t heard of Joel until I received an email from the fine travel writer Malerie Yolen-Cohen; “I’ve never seen such stunning commerical-fishing photos,” she wrote. I searched online and found his website. Whatever I had been planning to do for the next hour vanished as I clicked through image after image, each eliciting the same response: How did he get that?

I wrote Joel immediately. Days passed without a reply—which wasn’t surprising. When you fish for a living many miles offshore, you can’t simply check your messages, and you aren’t in a position to answer as quickly as politeness dictates. Finally, he replied, and soon I went to see him in Rockport, Maine. This is something to know: He’s based in the same town as the Maine Media Workshops and College, where for years the best photographers in the world have been coming to teach seminars. Yet few, if any, are familiar with his work. Outside of his Facebook friends, nearly all of whom know him from his lobstering and deep-sea-trawling life, he remains virtually unknown.

I hope what you see in our pages will change that. Joel tells everyone he is a fisherman, not an artist. He works at sea, often in harsh, bitter cold, his hands covered in grease or slime or blood. But since the day he picked up a camera, he’s found an opening into a world few have seen. And he’s also found an opening into himself.

Beyond Joel’s photos, you’ll discover other gifts from the sea in this issue. We ponder whether the time is ripe for Maine seaweed to become the next “in” food (“Seaweed Dreaming,”). Plus, we fill your plate with recipes showcasing what may be the most succulent seafood of all: the sea scallop (“Sunken Treasure,”).

In these days of darkness and blustery winds, it’s a good time to think of the men and women tossing about on a winter ocean to bring us the seafood we take for granted—and of one fisherman in particular who finds a way to tug off his gloves, grab a camera, and freeze for all time a sliver of what his world looks like. And how he sees it.

Mel Allen, Editor editor@YankeeMagazine.com

PS: Keep an eye out for Joel’s appearance on Weekends with Yankee, a new series from WGBH premiering in April on public television stations nationwide (check local listings).

Mel Allen

Now editor at large, Mel Allen's first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and led the staff as editor from 2006 to 2025. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long-form storytelling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel is author of Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All (Earth Sky + Water LLC, 2025).

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