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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 1
September 2009
Davis Wharf: Working waterfront preserved
WEST TREMONT, ME – The words “family” and “future” were used many times during an Aug. 6 celebration of the preservation of the Davis Wharf on Mount Desert Island.
Brothers Wayne and Robert Davis made it clear that their decision to apply for a state grant through the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program (WWAPP) was inspired by the actions of the generations of their family before them.
“Our grandfather, Frank Davis, bought this piece of property to fish from back in 1946,” said Wayne Davis. “He passed it on to our father, Edwin Davis. Father was just like everyone else along the coast. He did what he had to do to make a living – lobstering, crabbing, groundfishing, clamming. He worked hard.”
Health problems in his later years robbed Edwin Davis of that ability and also made for some difficult financial decisions.
“When his health got bad, our father could have sold this property and had an easy life,” said Robert Davis, “but he chose not to. He made a lot of sacrifices and held onto it so we’d have the wharf to work with.”
The 0.57-acre property is located on Goose Cove, and keeping it going came at a price. By 2007, the Davis brothers were faced with either losing their site or having to sell it.
“With lobster prices down and the upkeep costs on the wharf rising, we were falling behind,” said Wayne.
Then the Davis family heard about the WWAPP. They were interested but understandably intimidated at the same time, recalled Wayne Davis.
“We actually went to one of the public meetings and came away saying, ‘This is too complicated. It’s not for us.’”
A later one-on-one meeting with Willow Rhealt of Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI), a WWAPP administrative partner, changed their minds.
“Willow gave us the courage to go for it,” said Wayne. “If it hadn’t been for her, we probably wouldn’t have tried to get a grant.”
Time investment
The Davis family hunkered down and, over a three-month period, drafted an application for the WWAPP.
“It took hundreds and hundreds of hours,” said Wayne Davis, who credited his wife, Deanna, with doing a lot of the work to put the application together.
It was an exciting moment for everyone in the Davis family when they found out in July 2009 that their application had been accepted.
“We didn’t know it until afterwards, but we were the first family business to get involved in the program,” said Wayne.
By accepting the $265,000 WWAPP grant, the Davis family has relinquished any rights to develop their property in any way that would prevent its use to support commercial fishing activities.
In turn, they received funding that will help them to pay off their mortgage, make improvements to the wharf, and install a new float and runway. Currently, four boats operate out of the property. Now there is room for two more.
“There’s no way we can thank everyone who’ve supported us in this process enough – from CEI and the Island Institute to George Lapointe and the Maine Department of Marine Resources,” said Robert Davis. “Plus, we’ve had 100% support from the community. We’re very proud of that and we appreciate it.”
Added Wayne Davis, “The average person doesn’t realize what a fisherman or a farmer goes through to make a living. I’d urge other fishermen to look into programs like this and do what they need to do to get involved. It’s the only way that the kids coming up are going to have any waterfront to work with.”
Out of over 5,300 miles of coastline, Maine has only an estimated 25 miles left of working waterfront. Thanks to the vision and determination of the Davis brothers, there’s one little piece that’ll be preserved for generations to come.
Brian Robbins
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