The Stonington Lobster Co-op will add a preservation covenant to one of its wharves and use the resulting state funds to help it repair past storm damage.
The cooperative in Maine’s busiest lobster port already updated one wharf and infrastructure through the state’s working waterfront protection program several years ago, according to members of the Land for Maine’s Future board, a state group that approved the new covenant Tuesday morning.
That improved wharf was able to survive powerful back-to-back storms in early 2024 which caused extensive damage to working waterfronts across the state, which some businesses are still working to repair.
The waterfront protection program is designed to preserve affordable access to the water for Maine’s marine industries, which the state says is increasingly important as demand increases for housing along the coast.
The Stonington co-op is “an essential part of the town’s commercial fishery structure” that supports at least 100 families, according to a presentation shown at the meeting. It formed in 1948 when 15 lobstermen joined forces to buy and sell lobster. The new covenant will restrict another 0.75 acres from any development not related to marine industry.
The co-op also plans to use the funds to add resiliency improvements for future storms while repairing past damage.
The board approved the acquisition unanimously.
The waterfront protection program gives matching funds to fishing businesses, aquaculture operations and other groups protecting their working access. In exchange, the state places a covenant on the site permanently limiting any future development there that doesn’t support fishing or aquaculture.
Land for Maine’s Future has five active working waterfront projects and more than two dozen others focusing on farmland preservation and conservation. Among the other working waterfront projects are ones in Harpswell, South Bristol and Hancock.
