Midcoast lobsterman featured in NBC streaming series on women in food
Rockport lobster boat captain and Belfast restaurant owner Sadie Samuels was featured on an NBC streaming show in a recent episode focusing on women in the commercial fishing industry.
In the Head of the Table streaming show “Women on the Water” episode, host Elena Bessert introduces viewers to both Samuels and a Washington state indigenous fishing guide and outdoor influencer.
Samuels comes from a fishing family and got her student lobster license at age 7 when she began throwing a few traps from her father’s lobster boat. At age 14, she bought her own boat, named Must Be Nice. She still fishes from that boat.
In the episode, Bessert trails Samuels through parts of her day, interspersing it with interview footage in which Samuels talks about being a woman in the lobstering industry, how she got started and how a changing environment influences her work.
After selling lobster at a farmers market for a few years, Samuels opened a lobster food wagon in 2020 and expanded into a Belfast brick-and-mortar location in 2022. The Must Be Nice Lobster restaurant is located at 2 Cross St. in downtown Belfast.
“In the U.S., women account for roughly 10 percent of commercial fishermen but they’ve long played a vital role in the global food industry,” Bessert said in the episode introduction.
Although she studied art in college, Samuels said lobstering is her passion.
“When I’m out here, I’m like this is where I am supposed to be. This is what I am supposed to be doing,” Samuels said on the episode.
For Samuels, the day begins before sunrise — 4 a.m. or earlier — when she heads out in her lobster boat to pull traps. After sorting lobsters — the episode details how Samuels decides which ones to throw back based on the law and conservation practices — it’s on to the restaurant, which is open until 7 p.m. most days. Must Be Nice Lobster in Belfast is closed on Tuesdays and otherwise open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Samuels said she aims to source locally and sustainably for the restaurant as much as possible, especially from women-owned farms. She takes Bessert to Wrights Cove Farm in Northport where they meet with owner Bonita Johnson. According to the show, Must Be Nice Lobster in Belfast now has fresh oysters from Johnson’s farm on the menu.
“You don’t do anything in the working waterfront type of industry unless you have passion for it and that’s a really nice thing for us to get to share with each other,” Samuels said.
The episode featuring Must Be Nice Lobster and Samuels can be viewed online. It’s streaming at www.today.com/allday and is also available on Roku, YouTube and Peacock.