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V O L . X X I I I N O. V I I I A P R I L 1 7 , 2 0 1 7 16 "ey'll know that even though the family doesn't own the wharf, it still will be owned by people who fish," says Miller, including several other Millers who are co-op members. Holden not only buys most of the lobster meat the co-op members catch, but gives 50% of the profits from the res- taurant in Tenants Harbor back to the co-op. It's a small portion of the whole amount he buys for his restaurants around the country, he says. Luke's at Tenants Harbor is open seasonally, and serves food that is trace- able to a sustainable source. He says he may begin selling the aquaculture scallops being grown by some co-op members who want to diversify. ose scallops are grown using an ear-hung technique learned from an information exchange between Maine and Japanese fishermen. Holden says the Maine res- taurant didn't make a profit its first year, which was a shortened season, but he expects it to this year. Carey says she and Luke worked together to figure out how to get more money to the fisherman. at, in turn, could attract more of them to the co-op. "So really, year one [of the co-op] was very successful," says Carey. "All the fishermen were pleased with their dividend. But in terms of driving eco- nomic impact, it's going to be years two, three, four and five where we build off our success and really start to innovate through diversifying the products that come up over that wharf. at's where we should start to see expanded eco- nomic impact in the harbor." In 2015, the overall economic impact of commercial fishing businesses in St. George was 130 lobster fishing opera- tors and 170 crew for 300 total employ- ment, 28 commercial fishing wharfs, $30 million to $50 million for St. George fishermen and employees with a total impact of $100 million including regional multipliers, according to the St. George Business Alliance and Midcoast Maine Fishing Heritage Alliance. at's not yet including the future impact of both the fisherman's and the aquaculture co-ops. Carey says their impact goes beyond just jobs. Last year the fisherman's co-op gave $500 to a program called boats for bikes that donates bikes to children who cannot afford them, lobsters to the Trekkers auction, lobsters to the St. George Community Sailing Foundation and lobsters for the crew who participated in a local island cleanup. "We are by no means the only co-op making charitable donations, but it adds to the overall commu- nity economic impact picture," Carey says. "I got involved in this because I knew enough about rural economic development to know the value of a family-owned and -operated wharf in a rural coastal town. I knew the wharf would return more to the community if it stayed locally owned. I knew there was a great 'trap-to-table,' family-run wharf story to be told." Lori Valigra, Mainebiz senior writer / c o n t e n t s p e c i a l i s t , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t lvaligra @ mainebiz.biz and @LValigra » 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 / DAV I D C L O U G H Peter Miller, who is diversifying his fish business into scalloping, checks his haul in lower Penobscot Bay, with help from Merritt Carey. Both are on the board of the recently formed Maine Aquaculture Co-op.

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