Some Gouldsboro Point residents, tired of being subjected to various annoyances caused by out-of-town mussel draggers, submitted a petition to the Gouldsboro selectmen on July 3, demanding the non-resident fishermen “be told to cease and desist of all commercial fishing and leave the landing, the moorings and the bay to the residence [sic] of Gouldsboro Point IMMEDIATELY.” It ends: “GET THESE PEOPLE OFF OUR SHORES. NO MORE COMMERCIAL FISHING FROM OUR PUBLIC LANDING.”
The town, however, when it established its three public boat ramps (in three different areas because there are five separate harbors or fishing areas in Gouldsboro), designated them primarily to give water access to commercial fishermen. It extends some reciprocity to nearby towns because when the harbor in South Gouldsboro occasionally freezes over, commercial fishermen moor their boats in Winter Harbor.
After listening to the merits of the petition and comments from the public, the selectmen asked harbormaster and chairman of the Board of Selectman Dana Rice to speak to both groups and ask them to be considerate of each other. Rice said the mussel draggers agreed, but the neighbors were unappeased, so, he said, “I suggested they approach the Harbor Committee.” The Harbor Committee recommended closing the public landings to out-of-towners.
The petitioners took that recommendation back to the selectmen, who told Rice to revisit the issue. The next time around, Rice said, the Harbor Committee voted to have the harbormaster try to make an equitable agreement between the parties. “Actually,” Rice said, “the mussel activity has stopped right now because there’s lobster activity going on, but [the mussel draggers] are perfectly willing to do anything they can to work this thing out, and I think we can. There has to be some give-and-take on both sides, but I think it’s going to work out. The end result is, the system has worked. It’s not a new situation on the Maine Coast, but it didn’t turn into a real [mess]. It’s going to work out. Both sides are going to be able to survive, and we’re still maintaining access for everybody.”