The selling of Maine's coast

SPRUCE HEAD ISLAND, Maine -- Fishermen on this rocky, pine-studded peninsula have felt a creeping unease in recent years, as real estate prices leapt skyward and stories circulated up and down the coast of fishing piers sold to make room for million-dollar vacation homes.

Two years ago, in response to growing concerns on the coast, state officials and researchers set out to map the waterfront access of Maine's working fishermen. What they found was more alarming than anyone expected: Along Maine's 5,300-mile coast, only 20 miles of shoreline remain open to commercial fishermen, according to the study the Island Institute released last month.

Two-thirds of the spots that fishermen still use as portals to the ocean are privately owned -- meaning they could be sold at any time and developed in ways that block fishermen's access.

The results of the unprecedented survey have added substance to long-simmering worries in this coastal state, where fishermen, with accents as colorful as their buoys, are a treasured part of the state's identity as well as the backbone of its economy. The new data have also fueled a growing consensus among legislators, scientists, local officials, and fishermen that the state must act now to fend off a looming crisis. "We have the Gulf of Maine right in our backyard, but two or three generations from now, we might not have any access to it," said Bob Baines , a lobsterman on Spruce Head Island. "There's a tremendous need to protect what we have."

Rising real estate prices on the coast have set the stage for a collision between two driving forces in the state's economy. Fishing, which brings in $740 million annually, faces a threat from another lucrative identity Maine has cultivated, as a destination for second - home buyers and well-off retirees. Many fishermen do not own the docks they depend on for their livelihoods, where they store their skiffs, load bait and fuel, and sell or store their catches. Their hold on these properties, which they lease or use by other agreements with owners, has rapidly grown more precarious, as longtime property owners see unprecedented opportunities to profit by selling, at prices well beyond the reach of most fishermen.

"If you think about the amount of commerce Maine wants to do in fishing, with thousands of people participating, this is foreshadowing a huge problem," said Paul Anderson , director of Maine Sea Grant, a center for ocean research and education at the University of Maine. "Lobstermen used to live right on the coast and walk down their driveways to their docks. Now they've been squeezed out of owning their own property on the water because of the costs."

The tension has generated debate about how to save access for fishing without trampling the rights of property owners.

Two years ago, Maine voters overwhelmingly approved a $2 million bond initiative that provides state matching funds to commercial fishermen to help them buy their own waterfront from which to work . The measure overseen by the state Department of Marine Resources, ensures that purchased sites remain forever open to fishermen. So far, six proposed projects have received $1.3 million; voters will consider whether to invest another $3 million this fall.

The Maine program has fast become a model around the country, where tightening coastal access is a widespread problem. Senator Susan M. Collins , a Maine Republican, has introduced legislation that would set up a similar federal program with $50 million in matching funds.

No one knows how much access to the water Maine fishermen enjoyed in the past or exactly how much the current fleet of fishermen needs. No one had ever attempted a comprehensive coastal survey before. But the new study starkly illustrates the scarcity of coastline ideally suited for fishermen. Within the 20 miles where they can work, a span that includes more than 1,000 separate landing spots, only 62 provide adequate parking, fuel supplies on site, and water deep enough to navigate at low tide.

Officials in St. George, a fishing town south of Rockland, have been looking for another dock to buy, to add to the two small public wharves it now operates, but the task has been made difficult by soaring prices. The total value of all town property -- one-third of which is on the water -- nearly doubled from 2000 to 2006, to more than $600 million, according to the nonprofit group Coastal Enterprises Inc.

"Almost all our access is at risk," said Dave Schmanska , the harbormaster in St. George. "We have one lobster co-op -- 25 guys who own the property where they sit -- but the rest could go away at the drop of a hat."

More than half of all town property is now owned by part-time residents, and the arrival of outsiders has put other pressures on fishermen, the harbormaster said. One group of newcomers started an unsuccessful petition that sought to turn down the volume on an offshore fog horn. ("I said, what would you prefer, the fog horn or an oil tanker on the rocks in front of your house?" said Schmanska.) Other arrivals proposed a noise ordinance to hush the work of fishermen at dawn.

"You have an influx of people with no connection to the working waterfront, who come because they like to see the boats," said Schmanska. "Then when they hear that engine cranking up at 5 a.m., it's a nuisance."

Advocates for fishermen say towns should recognize the value of their presence, which adds character and attracts visitors. That perspective was not lost on the developer of the upscale Harborside Hotel and Marina in Bar Harbor, who bought the last privately owned fishing dock in the harbor. Instead of evicting the fishermen, the hotel has preserved their access to the pier and the sandy beach nearby where they repair their boats. Guests are fascinated by the scene, said Eben Salvatore , director of operations for the resort. "They're hard-working guys, and they've always been respectful of the fact that our customers are right above them," said Salvatore, who grew up in town. "It feels good when you can run a nice property and at the same time help people feed their families."

Even when help is offered, fishermen can be slow to respond, resistant to paperwork and suspicious of government programs. More than 100 people inquired about the first round of funding for the new grant program, but in the end only six applied.

The lobstermen at Spruce Head Fishermen's Co-op were among the first in line. The 50 co-op members, who share a dock, office, and parking lot, have leased their waterfront site for 35 years. They had long hoped to buy it, but as prices rose, that goal seemed distant.

The lobstermen labored for months to write their first business plan, a requirement of the grant program. Last winter, they prevailed. In exchange for their promise to preserve ocean access for fishermen into the future, the state will give them $475,000 of the nearly $1 million they need to purchase the quarter-acre site. The fishermen plan to meet next weekend to approve the deal.

Last week, Baines stood on the dock and watched as brothers Shaun and Thomas McLennan , 17 and 14, loaded traps into their lobster boat, the Rip Tide.

"We're doing it for these kids," he said.

Jenna Russell can be reached at jrussell@globe.com.