Congress holds hearing on working waterfront bill

Rep. Chellie Pingree’s legislation would help communities in Maine and other coastal states retain water access

Highlighting successes of a pilot program in Maine, Jennifer Litteral, director of marine programs for the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine, also testified in support of the bill.

“We feel that creating a model from this (pilot program) at the federal level will go a long way towards sustaining coastal resilience,” Litteral said in her prepared testimony, “and the future of our nation’s iconic centuries-old tradition of working and living by the sea.”
 
Writing in the New York Post about Pingree’s bill, columnist Ken Moran talked about the threat to working waterfronts:  “Even in this slow economy, developers eye waterfront parcels and water-dependent businesses such as marinas, boat yards, commercial fishing operations and boat builders, and turn them into high-end residential communities.” (See full story here.) 
 
Background statistics:
 
·  Maine’s coastline is over 3500 miles long, yet less then 20 miles support working waterfronts.  These 20 miles support more than 35,000 jobs and bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. 

·  The lobster industry has $250 million worth of landings and indirectly contributes nearly $1 billion to Maine’s economy.

·  Maine’s total economy is valued at $48 billion (estimated 2007 GDP).  Maine’s coastal economy is valued at $29 billion—nearly 60% of the total economy.