A pier becomes a vacation home. A wharf is sold to condominium developer. Property changes hands
and clammers lose access to flats they’ve harvested for generations. Little by little — wharf by wharf — Maine’s fishermen have lost, literally, a staggering amount of ground. Today, just 20 miles of working waterfront remain on Maine’s 5,300-mile coast, according to a 2007 report by the Island Institute. What’s more, over half of working waterfront land is privately held and therefore at risk of being sold for non-fishing uses
It’s a reality lobsterman Gerry Cushman understands. “Once you give it up, you never get it back,” he said.
Last July, Cushman and his fellow members of the Port Clyde Fishermen’s Co-op took steps to make sure their land will remain working waterfront forever through the state’s Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program (WWAPP.)
In 2007, its first year, the pilot program approved seven projects aiming to protect critically important working waterfront sites from development. Organizers of one project — the purchase of a right-of-way for Machiasport clammers — withdrew their application when the landowner decided not to sell. The other six are still taking steps such as a real estate appraisal and developing a business plan — that must be completed before the projects receive funds. In January, the program began accepting new applications again, and plans to do so until May 15.
Those who have already completed the application process say it isn’t easy, but they are optimistic about the program’s impact and encourage others to apply.
Through its arrangement with WWAPP, the Port Clyde Fishermen’s Co-op will sell the state a covenant, similar to a conservation easement, that restricts the property’s deed so that it can never be developed in a way that would interfere with its function as working waterfront. The co-op will use the money from the covenant’s sale to renovate and expand its pier.
The co-op is made up mostly of lobstermen, but it plans to make the renovated pier available to local groundfishermen who currently lease a nearby, privately-held property. This property is not currently for sale, said Cushman, but it is not protected, either.
While some were surprised that lobstermen would go out of their way to ensure groundfishermen’s waterfront access, Cushman said ties between the two groups are strong. Many co-op members’ sons are groundfishermen, and lobstermen have watched as the dragging fleet has dwindled. “There’s hardly any left. There are only seven or eight [groundfishermen] left in Port Clyde, and there’s nothing east of here,” said Cushman.
The co-op’s concern with the future of groundfishermen didn’t surprise Willow Rheault, program administrator for WWAPP. “Some folks would say you’d never see lobstermen and groundfishermen working together, but this is a small town. These guys live and work together. Their families have fished these waters together for generations,” she said.
Further south in Boothbay, fishermen and conservationists hope their project will help fishermen survive while safeguarding the local culture and economy. The Boothbay Regional Land Trust will use its WWAPP funds to complete the purchase of a piece of land known as the Roberts property that is adjacent the land trust’s Porter Land Preserve.
The 1.9-acre Roberts property on the Sheepscot River has long been used by lobstermen because of its proximity to key deep water fishing grounds. Land trust volunteers and local fishermen have already begun improvements on the property including replacing the gangway and part of the pier, and redoing the gravel road leading to access point. When the facilities are fully renovated, 10 fishermen will be able to moor boats at that site and at least that many will store gear there.
A Land Trust Adapts
The Boothbay Regional Land Trust is part of a small but growing group of conservation organizations interested in preserving working landscapes such as farms, forests and waterfronts. “[Commercial fishing] is so critically important to the economy and culture of the region,” said Julie Lamy, executive director of the land trust. “We don’t just see ourselves as a land trust, we see ourselves as part of a healthy community,” she said.
A healthy community must provide opportunities to young people, and Boothbay lobsterman Mike McConnell is hopeful that the Roberts property will help young fishermen who can’t afford property and find themselves without a place to store their traps in the off season. “If you want the young fishermen to be able to participate, they have to have a place to store their gear,” said McConnell who uses the property during the lobster season.
Fisherman Jon Hodgdon, also of Boothbay, is less optimistic about the project. Hodgdon leases a mooring at the Roberts property and says while the space may be of some use to fishermen who are just starting out and have few traps to haul, it doesn’t meet his needs. “I’ve just about given up on the idea of using it. You can’t bring lobsters across there. There’s no storage of any kind of bait anywhere. You can’t work on your boat there,” he said.
Hodgdon said he asked the land trust to put electricity to the dock to light the area when fishermen leave at dawn and to power tools so that they could work on their boats. But so far, he says, nothing has happened. Now Hodgdon is preparing for shrimp season but said the road to the Roberts Property isn’t plowed. He’ll use the public wharf at Boothbay Harbor. “I was really hopeful. All I could picture was this state-of-the-art wharf with lights and a winch that we could use, but I really don’t think its going to happen,” he said.
Lamy said the Roberts property’s zoning limits its uses, “We are doing the most we can do at this site given the zoning restrictions. It is in a residential area with residential zoning,” she said. Fishermen have been using the site for over a century, she said, and their access to the site has been grandfathered in as the area has changed.
Lamy acknowledged that, even when complete, the site won’t offer a full range of services to fishermen, but said she thinks it is a good model for preserving working waterfront access in residential areas. “This will serve the problem for people who have access issues, but it will never be a fully operational commercial wharf,” said Lamy.
Still, everyone seems to agree that now is the time to protect working waterfront. “If we don’t plan now and designate areas where commercial fishing can continue, it can all be gone before you even think about it,” said McConnell.
Harpswell residents felt a similar sense of urgency when Holbrook’s Wharf in Cundy’s Harbor came up for sale in 2005. Harpswell’s proximity to urban centers, coupled with its natural beauty makes its working waterfront particularly vulnerable to development. “It’s an extremely desirable location. Every single waterfront access that is bought up privately will never be able to be purchased by the fishing community. It will never be affordable,” said Bill Mangum, a Harpswell accountant and president of the Holbrook’s Community Foundation.
A group of citizens formed The Holbrook’s Community Foundation and began looking into ways to buy the wharf, which includes a snack bar, an 1850s house that is divided into two apartments, and a general store. Around the same time, WWAPP was announced and the group applied for funding.
Buying the property was only the beginning. The wharf was in worse condition than anticipated, and needed $100,000 in immediate repairs. Mangum said that the property will likely need $400,000 more in renovations. “We have visions of bringing the commercial fishing back big time to the wharf. But first we have to make that access available and safe,” he said.
The Holbrook’s Wharf project is the closest to seeing the funds that WWAPP has reserved for it, but has yet to receive any money. Mangum said he was surprised at the length of the process and would like to it streamlined, “My hope is that the efforts we have put forward will help shorten the process for future applicants,” he said.
Tim Glidden, director of Land for Maine’s Future, whose board selects WWAPP projects, admits the process has been slow, but said that is to be expected of a pilot program. “We’re going up the learning curve. We’re still trying to find out how to make this work best for the commercial fishing industry and be a good use of state funds at the same time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rheault wants potential applicants to know that WWAPP is not only interested in funding large high-impact projects such as fishermen’s co-ops, but is also open to smaller-scale proposals to preserve working waterfront access for sectors such as clamming, worming, and aquaculture. “There’s a whole breadth and diversity to commercial fisheries. These projects don’t all have to be quarter-of-a-million dollar cooperatives, as great as they are,” she said.
For more information about the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, call (207)772-5356 or visit www.wwapp.org.
A graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Bridget Huber is a Maine-based freelance writer.