For the last five years, Maine’s Working Waterfront Coalition has worked on two public policy tools to help save and secure important commercial fishing access properties along the coast. As a founding and leading member of the coalition, CEI has been at the forefront of these endeavors. This ongoing effort has led to the creation of a Current Use Taxation program for commercial fishing properties and the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program (www.wwapp.org), a program to purchase, preserve and protect waterfront properties that support commercial fisheries. Both programs were created after Maine voters approved them in the November 2005 ballot. The experimental $2M pilot program, run by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, has been implemented and administered by CEI, with the support of the Island institute. It has been a great success, thanks to the ongoing efforts and support of the Working Waterfront Coalition, CEI, the Maine legislature and Maine voters. In November of 2007, the program was approved to receive an additional 3M and is currently soliciting for projects. To learn more about the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, check out the program's website: www.wwapp.org

If you would like to read more about the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, please see the following articles that were printed in Down East Magazine-May 2007, National Fishermen-June 2007 and The Boston Globe 6-17-07.