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V O L . X X I X N O. I I S O U T H E R N M A I N E JA N UA R Y 2 3 , 2 0 2 3 20 our car, a place to tie up our boat that's affordable, and a place to land our prod- ucts," Moeser says. "Oysters need to be washed and bagged and sorted and sold. So the land-based aspects of farming are so critical. We need places like Sea Meadow Marine because not all of us can afford to own waterfront." Alicia Gaiero, who's planting over 100,000 oyster seeds this year for her operation, Nauti Sisters Sea Farm, agrees. Gaiero thinks about access and afford- ability whenever she's on the water. "Having that accessibility is a game- changer," Gaiero says. She estimates a slip at a local marina would cost thousands of dol- lars each season. "Square-footage for storage can be really expensive," she contin- ues. "A whole portion of my busi- ness plan and budgeting is looking at how much it costs to get on the water. Where do you work? Where do you store your equipment? And Sea Meadow is highlighting the need to preserve other locations." Strater and other board members have been cleaning the yard and creat- ing useable space. He and a partner, Nick Planson — also a board member — created a new business called the Boat Yard, to provide boat storage and service to workboats and recreational boats, to sell electric motors, and to build elec- trical charging infrastructure. e board is networking with com- munity and academic organizations to offer access to the working yard and adjacent salt marsh. "Imagine a place where you can park a school bus and spend a day with students and right in front of them there's a salt marsh and an aquaculture community," says omas Henninger, who operates Madeleine Point Oyster Farms from the site and supplies product to his spin-off busi- ness, Freeport Oyster Bar. Henninger says the disappearance of working waterfront to residential development hurts small maritime businesses like his. "Part of being aquaculturalists is having a social contract," he says. "I'm growing my oysters because the state leased me an area. I don't think that's one-sided. at social contract with the community, for an oysterman, happens when someone's kid is on your farm, when schoolkids visit your upweller where you grow the baby oysters, when someone brings their kayak down." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S Joseph and Megan Lowell sought a buyer for their boatyard who would preserve the land as working waterfront. They now operate Downeast Custom Boats at the site.

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