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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 9
May 2010
Waterfront access preserved in key ME ports
FRIENDSHIP, ME – More lobsters are landed each year in Knox County, ME than in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire combined. Without question, commercial fishing is an economic driver in this midcoast area of the shoreline.
To keep that engine going, fishermen need waterfront access, and that isn’t easy to come by these days. According to one study, only 20 miles of commercial working waterfront are left among Maine’s 5,300-mile coastline.
However, five important facilities in lobster-rich Knox County will stay in the hands of industry forever thanks to the state's Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program (WWAPP).
Located in Friendship, Owls Head, Spruce Head, and Vinalhaven, these properties are just the latest among the 19 total that the WWAPP so far has been able to preserve in perpetuity for commercial fishing usage from Lubec to York.
The program was funded through two bonds in 2005 and 2007 totaling $5 million. Those funds now have been fully allocated. Program administrators say additional preservation prospects rest on passage of a new bond, which will go out for a referendum vote in November.
The $10-million Natural Resources bond, if approved by Maine voters, would dedicate an additional $2 million to the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program to secure more properties.
WWAPP administrators said, “There are approximately 100 commercial fishing properties in the state that remain unprotected and are critically important to much of coastal Maine’s reliance on fishing for economic prosperity.”
Two in one town
The lobstering community of Friendship, where one-fifth of the population holds a fish or shellfish license, was fortunate enough to preserve two properties.
In early April, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), in cooperation with the Land for Maine’s Future program, used WWAPP funds to purchase “protective covenants” for the wharves and associated lands of the Friendship Lobster Realty Co-op and the Fishermen’s Heritage Lobster Realty Co-op. The covenants guarantee that the properties will be preserved as commercial working waterfront.
The Friendship Lobster Realty Co-op serves 40 lobster boats and supports 70 fishing families, and the Fishermen’s Heritage Lobster Realty Co-op supports 40 boats and roughly 60 fishing families.
Friendship co-op
The historic wharf housing the Friendship Lobster Realty Co-op was extended into deep water over 110 years ago to allow Rockland-to-Portland steamboats to stop in the harbor. During that era, the wharf served as a transportation hub and played a vital role in the community, supporting a fish and shellfish buying station and serving as a social gathering spot.
In 1997, Friendship Lobster Realty Co-op members bought the property to use the wharf exclusively as a seafood buying station. The 0.6-acre property has 110' of deepwater frontage, and the 14,000-square-foot wharf is largely covered by buildings.
Co-op members plan to use their $232,500 award to liquidate the property’s mortgage, purchase a nearby lot for additional gear storage and parking, and move ahead with deferred infrastructure maintenance and replacement.
Co-op President Jim Wotton said, “We appreciate the opportunity that this WWAPP award gives us. It will allow us to pay off our debt and also do some needed repair and maintenance.”
Furthermore, Wotton said, the award gives the co-op the ability to “ensure that the property will always remain ‘working waterfront’ and continue to be a valuable asset to the people in our community.”
Fishermen’s Heritage
The wharf owned by Fishermen’s Heritage Lobster Realty Co-op also is over a century old. The 0.61-acre property includes 100' of deepwater frontage and has a 2,880-square-foot wharf, multiple buildings, and floats.
Co-op members plan to use their $182,000 award to make extensive wharf repairs and to raze and replace the more than 100-year-old bait building that currently has limited utility. The new bait storage building will be fully refrigerated and have forklift access on a single level, which will be a new feature for the co-op.
Co-op President Gilbert Simmons said, “Replacing the cooler with a larger, more efficient building will add cold storage space to the wharf. With the limited days herring can be landed, this will allow co-op fishermen to have bait storage available for several days.”
He also noted that the existing bait building sits partially on the wharf in an area that needs replacement – another essential project that now can be undertaken with help from the WWAPP funds.
“This award will position the co-op to be sustainable for years to come,” said Simmons.
Owls Head
In late March, the program also allowed the DMR to purchase a protective covenant for the Ship to Shore Lobster Wharf in Owls Head.
Rodney and Anna Mason bought the wharf, which supports a lobster buying station, in 2008. The property sits on a quarter-acre of land with 190' of frontage. In addition to the 14,200-square-foot wharf, the property includes two sizable buildings, boat fueling capabilities, floats, and hoists. In all, it supports roughly 30 lobster boats and 45 fishermen who sell their catch to the buying station and purchase fuel and bait there.
The Masons intended to use their $226,250 WWAPP award to help defray the purchase price of the property, which now will remain in the commercial fishing industry forever under the restrictive covenant.
“The first order of business is to preserve the property for generations as a significant piece of Maine’s working waterfront,” said the Masons.
Town officials were especially pleased with the deal. Since 1966, the property has provided a deeded town right-of-way to deep water in the harbor. Owls Head selectmen and the Masons are now discussing extending the agreement, which would benefit all parties. The town then could forego the cost of building an alternative access pier, and the Masons hope the additional wharf traffic by recreational boaters and the public will help boost lobster retail sales.
Selectman Dick Carver said, “I’m happy the Masons bought the wharf. They’re hardworking people and an asset to the community.”
Spruce Head
Back in January, the WWAPP made it possible for the DMR to purchase a restrictive covenant for the Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-op wharf and property.
Co-op members had been leasing the property for 38 years, but property owner and co-op member Dick Waldron wanted to sell the property to the co-op itself to ensure it stayed in the fishing industry.
The co-op’s 60 members applied for and received a $166,250 WWAPP award to make the transaction possible. And now, under the restrictive covenant, there are severe limits on any future residential or recreational use of the property, preserving it in perpetuity as working waterfront for commercial fishermen.
Waldron said, “We’re doing the right thing. The co-op members work hard and they deserve to own this property. I can’t imagine the property being used in any other way.”
The Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-op property is a 0.25-acre parcel on Seal Cove in South Thomaston. It includes 74' of prime shorefront, a series of floats, a building to store bait and supplies, and ample office space.
Co-op President Bob Baines said, “We have over 50 boats that fish from this property. We and all of our families depend on this piece of land for our livelihood. Mr. Waldon’s heart is in the right place.”
Vinalhaven
In another happy ending, the Vinalhaven Fishermen’s Co-op closed its own WWAPP project late in December. The co-op had received a $178,750 award by selling the state a protective covenant that secured permanent commercial working waterfront access for the one-acre property, which is located within Vinalhaven’s Carvers Harbor.
The co-op used the award to build a brand new 900-square-foot bait freezer and refrigeration building, which substantially increased the facility’s bait storage capacity.
Co-op Manager Carol Hamilton said, “You can’t catch lobsters without bait. Although we have needed additional bait storage for some time, we did not have the money to build it. The income from the sale of the covenant has made the new building possible.”
The co-op is one of the prime lobster buying stations in Midcoast Maine and serves as the economic engine for the island community, where about half the year-round households depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
As landings of fresh bait have become less predictable in recent years, freezing capabilities have become increasingly important.
According to Hamilton, the new bait building was key to the island’s sustainability.
“The building helps provide the facilities necessary for the present generation of Vinalhaven fishermen and the covenant ensures that the facilities will be available for the future generations of Vinalhaven fishermen,” she said.
Coastal Enterprises Inc. implements the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program. For more information, visit WWAPP’s web site at <www.wwapp.org>. /cfn/
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