Preserving Commercial Fishing Access: A Study of Working Waterfronts in Twenty Five Maine Communities

摘要

This report and study is specifically concerned with the issue of commercial fishing access. It focuses on where the roughly 10,300 fishermen and women will unload their catch, buy ice and fuel, park their trucks and access their boats. In response, the State Planning Office contracted with Coastal Enterprises, Inc., to assess the status of commercial fishing access through a survey of 25 coastal fishing towns and to make recommendations regarding monitoring this issue in the future. The study included a review of two previous studies and databases on waterfront facilities, and interviews with 90 municipal officials, staff, waterfront committee members, commercial fishermen and harbor masters. We also analysed secondary development data (economic and demographic) and commercial fishing licenses to round out the information on the importance of the industry and to distinguish between different development pressures experienced by various towns.