Capital for
Opportunity &
Change

Investing in PEOPLE and PLACES for Over 30 Years

A Development Approach to Fisheries and Maine’s Working Waterfront
The goal of CEI's Fisheries and Working Waterfront Programs is to foster the sustainable development of Maine's fisheries and fishing communities by making investments, initiating projects, supporting policies and assisting marine-related enterprises that:
  • Generate & maintain quality jobs
  • Strengthen shoreside marine infrastructure
  • Improve management of marine resources
  • Reuse and/or recycle waste streams and reduce energy consumption
  • Add value to marine resources
For centuries, the working waterfront has been part and parcel of Maine's coastal communities. And yet today along the 5,300 miles of Maine's shorefront, you'll find only 25 miles still in service to our traditional fishing and marine industries. These 25 miles support 10,300 harvesters and 26,000 fishing-related jobs which generate $740 million income EACH year.

Protecting the working waterfront is smart economic development as many vibrant components of our coastal communities are in danger of disappearing forever. Growing oceanside property values, property taxes, equipment, bait and fuel costs, as well as diminishing natural resources, make it more and more difficult every year for our marine business. Maine's commercial connection to the sea is a sound reason for communities to unite. Bankers and borrowers, local officials and business owners can attest to the impact of capital that the marine industries channel through to the local economy. Access to the water, well-maintained piers and equipment, wisely-managed marine resources, and adequately dredged berths are the keys to continuing that economic tide.

CEI is creating change in this arena from our 3E perspective. CEI gives loans and business assistance to commercial fisherman and other marine-related businesses: economy. Borrowers of our loan funds are encouraged to participate in a research or management project that involves a marine resource or protecting public health: environment. Our policy work is bringing to the forefront the issues that marine businesses face, and new jobs are being added while the old ones are retained: equity.

To date, CEI has made progress in all three categories.

Economy

  • 208 loans
  • $14.3 million lent and an additional $47 million leveraged
  • Portfolio Composition: 49% harvesters, 12% processors, 8% shore side suppliers, 9% wholesale, 9% infrastructure, 14% new marine-related and aquaculture

Equity

  • Created over 1,550 full-time jobs, and 265 part-time jobs
  • Involved 85 fishing men and women engaged in research
  • Access secured for 165 boats in a working waterfront 

Environment

  • 60 FISHTAG projects (Marine Science or Public Health Related research and management
  • 6 shoreside environmental projects
  • Promoted environmental stewardship within the fishing industry

The FISHTAG Program

FISHTAG Project Examples

Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program

Federal Working Waterfront Initiative

Cod Farming Academy

Working Waterfront Coalition

Along the coast, high-priced homes are replacing buildings and piers that were once used to unload fish and lobsters. Of the 5,300 miles of shoreline in Maine, fewer than 25 miles remain open as working waterfront. Fishermen and shore side businesses from York to Eastport are finding it increasingly hard to do business because they can no longer access a path to the clam flats or rely on a place to store and repair their traps.
The Maine Working Waterfront Coalition (WWC), a statewide group of industry associations, nonprofits, state agencies, and concerned citizens, was formed to preserve this increasingly vulnerable asset. Over the past three years, the WWC has developed a public policy agenda and a "tool box" for municipalities, lawmakers, businesses, land trusts and others seeking to protect marine infrastructure and access to the water. As a founding member and coalition leader, CEI has been a driving force behind the coalition's growth. Now with over 140 members, the WWC is undertaking an ambitious plan to advocate at the state and local level for policies, planning practices and projects that will protect water access.

 
 
 

To help create economically and environmentally healthy communities in which all people,
especially those with low incomes, can reach their full potential.

36 Water Street, PO Box 268, Wiscasset, ME 04578; Telephone: 207/882-7552; FAX: 207/882-7308; E-mail                       Login   Logout   

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