Delaware - Appointed Obligatory Member (1st term, Exp. 2028)
Elizibeth “Lisa” Wooleyhan brings more than five decades of commercial fishing experience to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The daughter, wife, and mother of commercial fishermen, she has been involved in nearly every aspect of the industry. Her journey began in high school, building wooden lobster and conch pots and crewing on her father's boat in the Baltimore Canyon during weekends and summers out of the Northside Marina Indian River inlet.
From 1980 to 1996, her family pioneered shellfish aquaculture in Rehoboth Bay, Delaware, cultivating hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Atlantic surfclams (Spisula solidissima) in partnership with the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science. They supplied seed clams to emerging farms in Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware, and grew market-size clams for retail sale. She later co-owned a retail seafood market, gaining firsthand insight into the economics of bringing “ocean to table” seafood to local consumers.
Today, Ms. Wooleyhan manages the office operations for her family business, Wooley Bully Inc., handling federal and state permitting, reporting, and logistics. Her husband and two sons have fished extensively from North Carolina to New York, and her sons now work out of New Bedford in the scallop fishery, while her husband continues to operate the F/V Labradoodle, targeting lobster, conch, monkfish, dogfish, and other species.
Having witnessed the industry’s evolution over decades, Ms. Wooleyhan is committed to ensuring fisheries policies reflect the realities of commercial fishing and to strengthening communication between fishermen and policymakers. Outside of work, she enjoys snowboarding, surfing, and cross-country skiing.
Contact
Phone: 302-542-3613
Email: 4wooleys@msn.com