The two most important cultural events that celebrate working life along Maine’s coastline both happen in the dead of winter – during the first and third weekends of March. You might think this an odd time to celebrate, but the summer is just too busy to have much time to take a break. Besides, who wants to leave home, especially an island home, during the short, sweet summer?
The first weekend in March is the Maine Fishermen’s Forum — and it is not just a gathering of fishermen and women and their families. State legislators, senators, governors, the media, fisheries regulators and lots of local groups in the 140 coastal towns that land commercial quantities of fish show up for a three-day event at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. In recent years, about 2,000 people from all walks of life have participated in the workshops, presentations, trade show and cultural spectacle the Fisherman’s Forum presents (see www.mainefishermensforum.org).
This year the Island Institute has taken a special interest in presenting the results of year and a half long project to map every public parcel (and as many private pieces as we could identify) that provide access for commercial fishing. We’ve learned that along Maine’s 5,300 miles of coastline a surprising 1,555 parcels support commercial fisheries access, but these comprise a total of only 20 miles of working waterfront – or less than four tenths of one percent of Maine’s total coastline. Not only is this number smaller than anyone thought, but over half of this total is privately owned and highly vulnerable to conversion and only three percent of the total coastline is zoned to protect commercial activities.
These findings come at a time when the legislature is reviewing the results of the first bond of $2 million that voters approved to test how much interest there is along the coast to acquire and permanently protect working waterfront access. During a short four-month window this past summer, over 100 different towns, fish coops, individual fishermen and community groups contacted the program to inquire about eligibility. Six projects ultimately made it through the complex application process and were awarded $1.3 million. These grants, averaging $200,000, supported over 200 fishing families, benefiting 194 boats. The state’s $1.3 million investment permanently secured over $4 million value among the protected properties. (Please note: in terms of transparency, the Island Institute and our partner, Coastal Enterprises Inc. [CEI] administered the application process for which the Island Institute has been paid $22,463.)
Now it is time for the governor and legislature to put some real money into the program, because if they don’t step up — and if those whose livelihoods depend on these crucial resources don’t make their voices heard — the Maine coast will end up as a Disneyfied version of a coastline where people once worked, but now only play. If the state can afford tens of millions of bond dollars to buy conservation lands, surely we can afford a similar amount to keep working waterfronts working.
Two weeks later (March 16-18), the working waterfront cultural venue shifts from fishing to boatbuilding — wooden, fiberglass, high tech composite and every other boatbuilding technique imaginable — are all on display at the Maine Boatbuilders show in Portland (see www.portlandcompany.com/boatshow).
Organizer Phineas Sprague of Portland Yacht Services, who hosts the show, lists over 150 exhibitors that highlight a huge range of boat companies and the suppliers and services that support them. You get to see real boats there and meet the builders who craft them in the sprawling brick buildings along the waterfront that once serviced locomotives. The exhibitors include many of the great Maine boatbuilding brands including Morris Yachts, Lyman-Morse, Hinckley, Wilbur and Sabre — to small dinghy builders at Pendleton Yachts on Islesboro or at Cranberry Isles Boatworks. The exhibitors also include many of the educational programs where regular people who want to know something about boatbuilding can learn about learning, including the famous Woodenboat School in Brooklin and the Landing School in Kennebunkport.
If the crowds don’t frighten you, stop by the Island Institute booth at either the Fisherman’s Forum or the Maine Boatbuilders show and introduce yourself. We will be looking forward to seeing you.
Philip Conkling is president of the Island Institute.