A working waterfront, lest anyone forget it, is where many things meet: commerce, natural resources, transportation, public access, various types of manufacturing, recreation. The list of activities associated with working waterfronts is very long, and what’s on that list will always depend on one’s point of view.
As writer Rob Snyder suggests in the first of a series of articles on working waterfronts in Maine, even defining what they are can be difficult. In our lifetimes the primary users of working waterfronts have been fishermen. Previously many of these same places were home to industries like granite (which crossed Maine docks on its way elsewhere) or coal (which crossed Maine docks on its way into the state). Before that, lumber made up much of the business on waterfronts in Maine, and even earlier, waterfronts were used for drying cod for export to Europe.
Future stories in this series will focus on public and private responses to the threats working waterfronts face, and ways state and local governments are addressing problems such as rising real estate values, rising taxes and the loss of public access.
Working waterfronts are Maine’s heritage and future. They are a study in evolution, and they will continue to change. What’s important, in terms of public policy, is that this evolution not result in losses. A working pier converted to private, summer-only use represents a loss; the conversion of such property to non-water-dependent uses is a loss too. Working waterfronts are an endangered resource in Maine: at last count less than 25 miles of the state’s long coast was devoted to this purpose, and the total is less than that today.
Some planning tools are available to meet the growing challenges to working waterfront access. Others are needed. Most important will be a coordinated commitment and determination on the part of all those who rely on access to working waterfronts for their livelihood.