Maine town declares a ‘right to fish’

Harpswell has a new right-to-fish policy intended to protect the town’s working waterfronts and fishermen.

“We have a sign when you come into town saying we’re a working waterfront community. We’re pushing the town to do more than just a sign,” Cundy’s Harbor fisherman Matt Gilley, who helped develop the policy, told the Harpswell Anchor before the meeting.

The Harpswell Select Board approved the policy unanimously on July 11, but not before some tense exchanges between board members and advocates.

The policy commits the town to several actions. Speaking to the Anchor, Gilley emphasized a provision protecting fishermen from nuisance complaints about sights, sounds or smells that might result from fishing activities, like operating boat engines or storing fishing traps on private property. Maine law already prevents such complaints against fishermen who are operating in line with applicable laws or rules.

Harpswell’s fishing industry is hundreds of years old. The town has a fleet of 385 fishing vessels that generates about $68 million in gross annual revenue, according to Harpswell’s draft comprehensive plan .

The new policy affirms town support for the state law protecting fishermen and for a legal defense against such complaints, known as “coming to the nuisance,” which is invoked when the activities were happening before the complainant moved to the area, or when the complainant should have known the activities were happening there.

In other words, existing fishing activities don’t become nuisances because somebody who doesn’t like them moves in next door.

Under the policy, Harpswell also agrees to educate new residents about fishing in Harpswell.

As an example of the kind of surprise a newcomer might encounter, Gilley recalled a question he got after speaking about the industry at an outreach seminar. The person asked about the bright lights that suddenly illuminated her newly purchased waterfront home early one winter morning.

Gilley explained that since lobsters move to deeper water in winter, lobstermen often leave earlier to reach traps they’ve set farther offshore. According to Gilley, the new resident said her first thought was that police were surrounding her home.

He suggested one way to educate people moving to Harpswell would be to distribute the “Scuttlebutt” pamphlets produced in 2022 by the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the Harpswell Anchor and other community groups.

Additionally, the Select Board agreed that Harpswell will create a funding mechanism for education, for expanding waterfront access for fishermen and harvesters, and for increasing the town’s ability to support commercial fishing. And Harpswell will continually make sure land use ordinances support commercial fishing activities.

Jerry Leeman, founder and CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, was not involved in creating the policy, but believes it will benefit fishermen and help protect the town’s food security. He praised the idea of educating new residents and recommended more community dialogue.

“I think half the reason we have complaints is because that dialogue didn’t happen,” Leeman told the Anchor after the policy was approved.

The policy’s advocates had initially hoped Harpswell might create a right-to-fish ordinance, which would go to voters at a town meeting. The new policy does not have the same legal weight as an ordinance, and could be repealed or changed by the Select Board at any time.

Harpswell’s attorney, Amy Tchao of the Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum, reviewed the proposed policy, but she was not at the July 11 meeting. At the Select Board’s request, Town Planner Mark Eyerman conveyed his recollections of Tchao’s advice about the policy, which he characterized as concerns.

Tchao told the Anchor after the meeting that she supports the right-to-fish policy. She said she did advise the town to conduct a thorough review of its current ordinances before adding any new ones related to a right to fish, which could include adopting a formal definition of commercial fishing.

Tchao said that such a review could identify conflicts between proposed and existing ordinances, and prevent unintended consequences. She is ready to help the town if it decides to pursue an ordinance.

After hearing Eyerman’s explanation, Select Board member David Chipman said he would prefer an ordinance, describing the policy as “a work in progress.”

Chipman’s comment drew pushback from Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson, who told Chipman he had been working on the policy for six months and that it has support from Gilley and Monique Coombs of Orr’s Island, another of its originators.

Coombs is the director of community programs for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, and is married to a fisherman. She told the Anchor she has been working on the right-to-fish policy mostly in a personal capacity.

After Johnson’s response, Gilley said that he agreed with Chipman that Harpswell should have a right-to-fish ordinance. Coombs told the board, “It’s nice as a policy; it’s better as an ordinance.”

Johnson then produced an email he received from Gilley saying the policy looked good. “Do you like it or not, Matt?” he said. Gilley said he thinks a policy is a good place to start.

Also advocating for the right to fish was George Prince, a Harpswell Neck fishermen and board member with the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association.

“This doesn’t give us any special rights,” Prince told the Select Board. “This is just protecting what we already have.”

Select Board member Jane Covey wonders what people or organizations will be responsible for the education and outreach the policy describes.

Coombs pictures a community effort, and floated the idea of a new town committee focused on fishing.

Covey also brought up the policy’s clause about funding mechanisms for some of the educational and other activities. After discussion, board members agreed the town would be able to come up with that money when it is needed. And Covey noted that private donations also could be sought.

Terri Gaudet, Harpswell’s deputy town administrator, said the town could include information about the new policy in its annual summer mailing to all taxpayers.

In the end, the Select Board adopted the policy with a unanimous vote.

Harpswell may end up being a pioneer in a right-to-fish movement. Gilley and Coombs said fishermen in other towns who have heard about their efforts have been reaching out to explore developing right-to-fish policies or ordinances in their own municipalities.