Supporting Commercial Fishing
Fishing Businesses at Holbrook’s Wharf
In 2009, Holbrook Wharf was rebuilt by HCF. Last renovated in 1945, the wharf was in poor condition with rotten pilings and decking. A new structure was built for use by commercial fishermen. This space is available for lease to 4 – 5 fishing-related businesses. The all-tide deep-water wharf accommodates commercial fishing boats for loading and unloading. The new ground-level section of the wharf provides direct access for trucks. Check out our commercial floats and hydraulic lift! For more information, contact Property Manager, Bill Mangum at 207-837-8384.
Commercial fishing enterprises that have used our wharf and/or bays include a maker of lobster traps, a local fisherman, a builder who repairs and builds moorings, wharves, floats and boats, a seaweed operation, a herring fisherman and a tuna business.
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The renovated commercial wharf with 3 bays and hoist.
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The commercial bays that are rented to commercial fishing businesses.
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Landing tuna on the wharf.
Marine Environmental Data Collection at Cundy’s Harbor
The Holbrook Community Foundation started hosting a Continuous Monitoring Station for the Friends of Casco Bay in March 2020. FOCB whimsically calls it a “Cage of Science". It’s a cage, like a lobster trap, with probes that measure chemical and physical properties of the water. Electronic probes measure factors such as temperature, turbidity, salinity, chlorophyll, acidity, and dissolved oxygen. FOCB uses this and other data to understand factors influencing biological productivity and to calculate the capacity of the water to support shell growth, information potentially useful to New Meadows shellfish growers and harvesters like those in the New Meadows River Shellfish Cooperative.
For 25 years, FOCB monitored the water of Casco Bay with volunteers sampling and testing water every two weeks in the summer. You might have seen the volunteers with a thermometer, Secchi disk, buckets, sample bottles, and cold hands. One of eight Harpswell sites was at Bethel Point. From this and other work, FOCB learned enough to want to dig deeper in three carefully chosen locations by analyzing the water every hour, every day of the year. Holbrook’s wharf is one of the sites. This work will reveal environmental patterns and changes over time. Holbrook’s wharf, however, allows researchers also to investigate the unique influence of Kennebec River water that sweeps west around Cape Small on eastern Casco Bay. What effect does the influx of fresh water have? How does it vary seasonally? Fodder for science researchers, and also oyster lovers wondering if that’s what makes New Meadows oysters so deliciously sweet.
To learn more, go to the Friends of Casco Bay website. Data from Holbrook’s Continuous Monitoring Station can be found here.
Collaboration with New Meadows Aquaculture Growers
Aquaculture Boat Trip
In 2019, HCF received funding from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership to organize three boats trips on the New Meadows River to visit aquaculture growers and learn about their work. The goal of this project was to engage, inform and educate key policy makers and members of the community about oyster aquaculture in Harpswell, Brunswick, West Bath and Phippsburg. The boat tours were guided by Peter Milholland, captain of the Pamela B of Seacoast Tours of Freeport. A third tour was offered by sea kayak by Registered Maine Guide Alicia Heyburn.
Support to the New Meadows Shellfish Cooperative
In 2019-2020, HCF provided assistance to local oyster growers to establish the New Meadows River Shellfish Cooperative, The Co-op plans to develop ways to share resources and a joint marketing strategy for their products. For more information, contact Mackin Pulsifer at mackin1945 at outlook.com.
Information about oyster farming in Maine is available on the following websites:
Partnership with Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA)
In 2017, HCF provided financial support for a needs assessment study of Harpswell’s commercial fishing community which was conducted by MCFA. We hope that this study will facilitate the Town’s and HCF’s future efforts to develop and support programs which will benefit commercial fishing in Harpswell. See the full report, Beyond the Bow: A Fisheries Needs Assessment of Harpswell 2017 on the MCFA website.