Last winter, weather permitting, Mike Reidy would leave his Carmel home long before dawn and put in a 12-hour day diving for sea urchins among the islands and ledges off Stonington. At day’s end, he got home well after dark.

This year, the growing scarcity of prime urchins, the market’s volatility and increased fishing restrictions prompted Reidy, 41, to try another trade. He is working full time as a fiberglasser at a Mount Desert Island boat yard, thanks to the Fishing Industry Retraining Project, a federal program that is helping Maine’s beleaguered fishermen make the transition to more secure careers.

Reidy did well at urchin diving — sometimes making more than $1,000 a day during the boom years. But his income had dropped the last two seasons.

“I think I got lulled into a false sense of security,” he reflected recently, taking a break from fiberglassing a part for a 36-foot powerboat at the John M. Williams Co. in Hulls Quarry where he was trained on the job.

Since it began several years ago, the $7 million retraining project, which is administered by the Maine Department of Labor, has helped 460 Mainers either get out of fishing altogether or reduce their economic dependence on it.

Scott Tilton, the project’s state coordinator, expects demand for retraining to increase in light of the news early this month that cod stocks are at record low levels in the Gulf of Maine where Maine’s groundfish fleet, numbering 1,700 licensed boats, has been largely concentrated. Federal regulators are considering closing sections of the gulf and imposing other rules.

Overfishing of lobster, scallop, shrimp, bluefin tuna and sea urchins, along with growing government regulation, also is taking a toll on Maine’s fishing fleet, which is composed largely of small, family-owned boats that traditionally shift from one fishery to another depending on the season and market.

“If you depended on four fisheries, and one is taken away, you increase your effort on the remaining three. The question is whether those remaining resources can sustain the fishing pressure,” Tilton said.

When New England’s groundfish crisis erupted in 1994, federal authorities came up with various strategies to rebuild cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder stocks that were on the verge of collapse. Besides restricting fishing, they launched a “buyback” program to remove boats from groundfishery permanently by buying vessels and retiring their federal permits. To date, 18 Maine fishing vessels have been bought through the $25 million program.

While a small number of Maine groundfishermen recouped some of their losses, the buyback program did nothing for the displaced crews, “lumpers” — people who unload the catch, fish cutters, truck drivers and others who derived their living from groundfish. Many were self-employed and unable to qualify for unemployment benefits.

Several years ago, the U.S. Labor Department funded a pilot retraining project to assist the Portland groundfishing fleet. A total of 24 fishermen participated, pursuing alternative careers ranging from preaching to diesel mechanics. But the $250,000 program was far from adequate.

“We learned from that experience the economic impact was far greater and not limited to southern Maine,” Tilton said. “We also learned that our focus should be broader than groundfish. When one fishery is impacted, it puts pressure on another.”

The next year, the Maine Department of Labor received $3.2 million in federal funds. The retraining project was born, targeting Maine and New Hampshire fisheries. It included, but was not limited to, groundfish. Its scope was broadened to include not just fishermen but other people who derived their income largely from fishing.

Under the project, nine outreach offices — called Fishing Community Resource Centers — were set up along the coast from Machias to Portsmouth, N.H. The centers are run by the state and by private nonprofit organizations.

Applicants must prove they earned at least 65 percent of their income from the sea during the past two years and must show a financial loss during that period. They also may not be behind in their income taxes.

Once enrolled, participants receive career counseling, advice on revolving loan funds, computer training and other services. The program pays for training and offers a modest stipend for transportation, child care and other living expenses.

Initially, fishermen were wary of the project. Independent by nature, some were reluctant to seek help. Some mistakenly thought they had to give up fishing to participate.

But those people who took the chance have become the project’s best promoters. Participants are pursuing a wide range of careers. For instance, one sea urchin harvester became a glassblower. A worm digger is studying to become a marine biologist.

A good example is Terry Levesque. For years, she worked unloading the catch from her father’s Bar Harbor-based groundfishing fleet that once numbered three vessels but has been reduced to one. She also did his bookkeeping.

A single mother of two, lacking a college education, Levesque saw the retraining project as an opportunity to study for an associate degree in accounting and provide a more secure future for her children.

“I just said to myself trying doesn’t hurt,” she recently recalled.

Levesque started out taking algebra and computer classes and other basic college courses at the University of Maine System’s Ellsworth branch, but found it tough to keep up with her studies and help her sons with their homework. She also was dealing with breast cancer and desperately needed a permanent job with medical insurance.

Levesque again approached the Ellsworth retraining center and learned the program would be willing to split her hourly wage for up to six months as long as an employer agreed to hire her permanently.

Her fuel supplier, Island Plumbing & Heating in Northeast Harbor, offered her a position as a bookkeeper-office manager, and she started work a month before her mortgage payment was due. She says the retraining project was a godsend.

“I’ve always wanted to work in a small office away from the suits,” she said. “I feel good. I have my home, my job.”

Out on Isle au Haut, less than six miles from MDI, John Cousins lessened his dependence on lobster fishing this year through the retraining program. He took a 10-week course from the National Park Service expanding his role on the island as a seasonal park ranger.

Cousins moved to Isle au Haut eight years ago. He and his wife have three children. He relied on lobstering to support his family although his professional background was in law enforcement. He supplements his income today keeping the peace as the island’s deputy sheriff and as a seasonal park ranger.

Cousins said he could not afford the big boats and gangs of lobster traps other fishermen have. With more fishing regulations being imposed, he says it’s a good time for him to be scaling back.

“I have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of gear, in the amount of traps,” he said this week. “It’s a rare day when I can go without snarling my wheel in someone’s gear.”

Cousins says the course enabled him to qualify for a better-paid park position as a seasonal law enforcement officer. His expenses were covered and he also was paid a weekly stipend.

“It’s a steppingstone. I am now entitled to apply for a permanent position that would have benefits,” he said. “It’s the culmination of everything I ever wanted to do. It involves my carpentry skills, working outdoors, dealing with people and law enforcement.”

This year, the U.S. Department of Labor made $3.5 million more available to continue the retraining project through June 1999. The program now assists seafood processers affected by the recent shutdown of the Port Clyde sardine cannery.

Jack Frost, the Ellsworth resource center’s coordinator, has seen a surge in calls from fishermen this holiday season. He says some are in financial straits while others are concerned about their livelihood in the long term.

“One fellow said if he’d known he didn’t have to give up his fishing license, he would have been here two years before,” Frost said last week. “We don’t want to cram fishermen into a mold. We are just here to lend a helping hand.”

Enough funds remain to assist at least 350 more people through June 1999, although more money may be available.