If you’re looking for something to do next Tuesday evening (March 7) and want to learn a bit about what’s happening on the waterfront, you can attend a free, informal community event to be held in Freeport.
“Fisheries in Our Town” is the latest working waterfront panel presentation in a series of events that have taken place in Harpswell, Brunswick and Kennebunkport over the last year and a half. These conversational presentations are designed to foster communication between different people and groups that live and work on the waterfront in communities along the coast. They have been co-hosted by Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, a local nonprofit working to identify and foster ways to rebuild the fisheries of the Gulf of Maine and sustain Maine’s fishing communities for future generations, along with local land trust partners. The upcoming panel in Freeport is in collaboration with the Freeport Conservation Trust, a nonprofit land trust dedicated to protecting, preserving and connecting open space lands, and providing public access to natural areas in Freeport.
Each of the previous working waterfront presentations has been tailored for the community and audience in that location and some have focused on specific topics such as etiquette on the water or the seasonality of fisheries. Others, such as the panel held this past fall in Brunswick as well as the upcoming Freeport event, are designed to provide a general introduction to the multiple uses and perspectives of those living and working on the waterfront. The Freeport panel will explore the variety of seafood that is harvested locally and supports our economy, working waterfront and feeds our community. Panelists will include a local shellfish harvester, a commercial fisherman, a shellfish and kelp farmer, a charter boat captain, and Freeport’s harbor master.
The format is informal with questions from the audience as well as from the moderator, MCFA’s Director of Community Programs Monique Coombs. The events are all free and open to the public and are available in person and by Zoom. Recordings and articles about the previous panels can be found at mainecoastfishermen.org/working-waterfront.
In addition, MCFA has produced a guide to coastal living, “Scuttlebutt: How to Live and Work in a Waterfront Community,” with the partners involved in the Harpswell panel presentations in order to educate the current community and newcomers about living and working near the ocean by providing the “scuttlebutt,” or insider information. The guide aims to foster a sense of community and shared values, and can also be found on MCFA’s website as well as in print at several of the event partners’ locations.
“Fisheries in Our Town” will be held on March 7 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Freeport’s Meetinghouse Arts, a newly renovated gallery and performance space at 40 Main St., with a reception to follow across the street at the Freeport Oyster Bar featuring samples of locally grown oysters and kelp along with Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association’s Maine Coast Monkfish Stew. The stew is produced by Hurricane Soups & Premium Chowders in Greene using sustainably harvested monkfish along with Maine produce and dairy. The proceeds from the sale of the stew benefit MCFA’s Fishermen Feeding Mainers program that donates fresh seafood to schools, food pantries and community groups statewide. Thus far, the program has provided close to 1 million meals of locally harvested seafood.
While the events are free to attend, registration is required. To register, please go to freeportconservationtrust.org/contact-1-1-1. And stay tuned for details about the next panel to be held in Brunswick, which is currently scheduled for April 6.
Susan Olcott is the director of operations at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
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