Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 A P R I L 1 7 , 2 0 1 7 S mall family businesses in Maine, especially in fi sheries, remain under pressure by larger competitors, older generations wanting to get out of the business and more recently, by changing water temperatures and spe- cies mismanagement, both of which can limit seafood diversity for anyone earning their living from the sea. On a recent visit to Millers' Wharf in Tenants Harbor (see story, p. 14), I sat on the wharf on lobster traps, chatting in the sun and smelling the fresh breeze off the lower Penobscot, with Josh Miller, a third-generation lobsterman, and Merritt Carey, a lawyer turned entrepre- neur. ey talked about how only a year before, Josh's father Peter and his three uncles who own the wharf were ready to throw in the towel and sell it. In a video at CEI's annual meeting in March, Josh, who began fi shing at age 3, said, "When I started fi shing you could set your watch to what happened year after year, when the lobster would come, when the mackerel would be in the harbor to catch," he says. "Now it's nothing like that. With the wild swings from year-to-year, depending on the water temperature … you can't bank on what you're going to catch or especially what you're going to get for it. Every year seems to be more volatile and less predictable." Peter added that when he was young he could go groundfi shing, scalloping, shrimping or lobstering. " ere was always a season when I could make some money. Now Josh is just lobstering. I don't see the security in that," he adds. A bunch of forces came together around the same time last year to keep the wharf operational, and even diversify its off erings. Carey, who had summered in Tenants Harbor, working odd jobs around the wharf, has strong sentimental ties to the area. Last year she approached Luke Holden of Luke's Lobster and asked if he wanted to buy the wharf. Holden said the econom- ics just weren't right for him. However, while talking to Carey, he looked at a Google map and saw picnic tables on the wharf from the closed Cod End restaurant. He decided to locate his fi rst Maine Luke's Lobster there, buy all the lobster meat that came over the wharf and give half of that restaurant's profi ts to the Tenants Harbor Fisherman's Co-op, of which he is a board member. Over the past year, Carey spear- headed the formation of two co-ops on the wharf, the 20-member Tenants Harbor Fisherman's Co-op and the Maine Aquaculture Co-op. e aqua- culture co-op's board includes Peter Miller, Carey and Holden. So far, it is focused mainly on scallops and kelp. Josh's uncle Hale pushed to get $250,000 in bond money last year from the Department of Marine Resources' Working Waterfront Access Program, with help from CEI, preserving the wharf through the Land for Maine's Future Program. So far, DMR's website lists 25 proj- ects in the working waterfront pro- gram protecting 42 acres of commercial fi shing territory and almost 1.5 miles of Maine coastline. at might not sound like much, but it benefi ts 940 boats and 1,680 fi shermen who land 21.4 million pounds of seafood worth $49.2 million dockside. Working waterfronts also are reduced in value so they pay lower taxes. Now, just a year after Peter Miller and his brothers wanted to sell the family wharf, the fi sherman's co-op has done so well it is negotiating to buy it and keep a coastal legacy going. It's a collaboration model other communities might consider to keep Maine coast businesses working. Helping Maine businesses thrive. It's what we believe in. It's what we do. Bangor Savings Bank has been named Maine's Top Small Business Lender 6 Years in a row by the Small Business Administration 1.877.Bangor1 | www.bangor.com Member FDIC Protecting Maine's coast: it takes a village Lori Valigra, Mainebiz senior writer / content specialist, can be reached at lvaligra @ mainebiz.biz and @LValigra I N S I D E T H E N OT E B O O K There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a There was always a season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could season when I could make some money. Now [my son] Josh is just lobstering. I don't see the security in that. — Peter Miller co-owner, Millers' Wharf

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