Paul C. Jensen was drawn to a life on and near the water. His earliest memory is “falling off the railing while fishing with his father on a gill-net fishing tug.”

Paul honored his family history of commercial fishing - originating with his great-grandfather in Voruper, Denmark, and later with his grandfather and father on Lake Michigan - with the purchase of a commercial fishing operation. He worked alongside his brother Dave operating large trap-nets catching whitefish on Lake Michigan - continuing the family legacy of Jensen Brothers Fisheries. In his capacity as a commercial fisherman and self-educated fisheries expert and enthusiast, Paul was an official US Advisor to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and collaborated with SeaGrant’s research program. He was active in several efforts to preserve and promote the sustainability of the Great Lakes fishery and co-founded Legends of the Lakes Whitefish Marketing Cooperative. “Captain Paul” maintained credentials through the US Coast Guard’s Merchant Mariners program as a large boat captain since 2006.

The Great Lakes has always been central in his life, and his legacy will live on with the protection and restoration of the lakes and the watersheds he cared so much about.