Guest Column: Working waterfronts hold many roles in the state

In the early 2000s, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) submitted a report to the Maine State Planning Office’s Coastal Program called “Preserving Commercial Fishing Access: A Study of Working Waterfronts in 25 Maine Communities.” The investigators surveyed 25 coastal communities and created a “vulnerability matrix” to rate these communities. The higher the score (i.e., 6 or 7 rather than a 2 or 3), the more vulnerable the community to losing that waterfront. The highest-rated towns at the time were Biddeford, Kennebunkport, and Kittery, with Freeport and Boothbay Harbor following close behind. The communities that scored least vulnerable at the time were Stonington and Jonesport, with towns like Swans Island and Vinalhaven ranking as slightly more vulnerable.

Maine’s coast is about 7,000 miles long, if you count all the islands, and at the time of the report “working waterfronts represent[ed] a mere 25 miles of this coastline.” In 2001 a task force was convened by the Maine Legislature to look at threats to the fishing industry. According to the report, “The task force heard from fishermen, municipal officials, and coastal residents who offered testimony of lost access in their town: no-trespassing signs across paths to clam flats, growing congestion on municipal piers, and working wharves converted into summer residences. Aside from stories like these and the 25 miles figure, the task force had almost no other data. ”A lot of work and effort went into creating this important report and recent headlines in local newspapers suggest that it’s time to update it. There are noise complaints about airboats in Freeport, increasing development requests in Boothbay Harbor, rising summer populations putting pressure on water access in Harpswell, parking issues. And everywhere we hear about limited moorings, new homeowners contesting access to the water by the public and clam harvesters, and non-water-dependent businesses like hotels attempting to build on the waterfront in Portland.

Historically, Maine has used its waterfronts as a place for industry and transportation. There’s a growing desire, however, for the waterfront to be enjoyed passively, without obstruction by business and, most importantly, privately.This desire to view but not to use the waterfront affects not just commercial fishermen but aquaculture businesses as well. The demand for Maine-grown oysters and other shellfish is skyrocketing, but it’s hard to grow an oyster industry when residents in some communities are fighting aquaculture companies in defense of their view. Portland is familiar with this problem: earlier this year a cold-storage facility was protested against because its height would block the view of some West End residents.

Spinney Creek, a shellfish aquaculture company in Eliot, is facing vigorous opposition as it tries to expand its leased acreage. Residents of the area have formed a group called “Friends of Spinney Creek” because, according to an article at Seacoastonline.com, “They feel [the project] threatens the delicate ecosystem, their property values, boat navigation and quality of life.”However, in the view of some, the working waterfront adds to the quality of life. In a recent Letter to the Editor in the Boothbay Harbor Register, a new resident shared his story about moving to Maine after years of visiting and dreaming of living here. “In 2015, that 40-year dream became a reality when we bought a great little house on Atlantic Avenue. We weren’t originally attracted to fancy hotels and restaurants, but instead … to people who still had a little dirt under their fingernails.”

There are so many things to consider when measuring the importance of the waterfront: its value for transportation, industrial uses, food production, recreation. As Maine’s popularity as a place to live as well as visit grows, so is the need to better understand how to measure those values and rank them. There is no one single use for any waterfront, whether it’s in a well-to-do town like Eliot or a hardscabble harbor like Cutler. By its nature, a working waterfront offers something for many different sorts of people, some of whom simply want to watch what’s going on and some of whom want to work.Unfortunately, the State Planning Office was eliminated in 2012. Perhaps evaluating what remains of Maine’s working waterfronts and how we might best protect those few miles will be an issue brought forward by a Gubernatorial candidate. Then Maine can get back to planning for a future that prioritizes its working waterfronts and their many uses.