Little River, East Boothbay, lobstermen who have been working to keep their area's lobster-buying station in the industry by purchasing it themselves rather than have it sold to private interests, said this week they have lost their battle, but won't give up their fight to help preserve Maine's working waterfront.

When the lobster-buying station unexpectedly came up for sale, area fishermen began to look for a way to buy it. Located between Boothbay Harbor and the Bristol peninsula, the station serves approximately 15 fishermen, many of whom have fished out of Little River their entire lives. The fishermen were offered first option at purchase, but the asking price was prohibitive for their means. Concerned that the property would be sold for a private residence and no longer be available for commercial fishing, the fishermen began to look for additional resources to enable them to purchase the property.

Intrigued by the success of York lobstermen in preventing residential development of a commercial pier by use of a conservation easement, the Little River group began their exploration of potential partners to work with them on this project. Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) in Wiscasset was approached, as was the local Boothbay Region Land Trust, the Town of Boothbay, and State Representative Ken Honey.

The goal of the group was to partner with local, state and federal agencies in order to obtain funding that would allow the fishermen to purchase the property, while securing "working waterfront" through a conservation easement. This easement would allow public access to the waterfront in Little River, while prohibiting future sale of the property for residential use, thus guaranteeing availability of "working waterfront" to area fishermen for generations to come.

As the group waded through the morass of state funding options with the help of Coastal Enterprises, it became apparent that while there are state and federal programs to preserve working farmland, there are no similar systems set up to preserve the working waterfront. With the explosion of development along the Maine coast, and rising property values, access to working waterfront by commercial fishermen is rapidly shrinking, and the gap between the "market price" of waterfront land and what a wharf operation can afford is growing.

Assurances that funding would likely be available but would take considerable time to negotiate did not meet the group's needs to clearly identify what funds would be available in order to make a firm commitment to purchase the property in a timely fashion. Even with business financing secured and a planned partnership with the Boothbay Region Land Trust to purchase a conservation easement, the group faced a potentially significant gap in funding.

Preserving the working waterfront is a new concept for which there are as yet very limited resources, and no "formulas" or mechanisms for obtaining them. Ultimately, the Little River group was unable to meet the price or conditions necessary to secure the property while waiting to see which agencies would be able to partner with them, and what funding they might be able to provide.

Even though the group was not successful in this venture, the fishermen and their families are resolved to continue forward in their efforts and to apply the knowledge they have gained through this experience to help others preserve the working waterfront for commercial fisheries and similar industries. They are joining the Working Waterfront Coalition in an effort to work with state and local organizations and agencies to outline a mechanism for fishermen and other groups to preserve working waterfront and retain Maine's fishing heritage. On Tuesday of this week, Nell Royall and Rachel Tibbetts outlined their experiences at Little River at a meeting of the Maine Working Waterfront Coalition Steering Committee in Augusta.

"We are both wives of fishermen, and we've both fished before," Royall told the group during her introduction. "This is our journey." She then explained that they had first been told the property - a working wharf, lobster buying station, and a house - was for sale in February for $1 million, and were given until April 1 to present a bona fide offer. Lobstermen finally offered $825,000 but lost out to a higher, undisclosed bidder. It wasn't enough time, she told the group; if they had been given six months instead of six weeks, she said she believes a deal could have been made.

Royall told the Maine Working Waterfront Coalition Steering Committee that the fishermen even considered going after state aid for farmers in order to seal the deal. "Lobstering is technically farming. We're feeding them and giving them a place to live in the lobster trap," she said.

Boothbay selectman Bruce MacDonald also attended the meeting and said he got involved in the project to see if the town could help, but found little support.