Courtesy / Down to Earth Professional Land Services Inc.
A breakwater and other infrastructure extending from Main Street are designed to protect Lubec’s fishing fleet from inclement weather.
Updated: February 11, 2022
Lubec’s fishing fleet needs a safe harbor, but bids for creating one were higher than expected
File photo / Laurie Schreiber
Bids for constructing a breakwater and other infrastructure off Lubec came in higher than the available budget.
The town of Lubec has nailed down federal funds and a plan to improve harbor infrastructure for the safety of its fishing fleet.
But contractor bids came in higher than expected, leaving town officials to decide whether to scale back plans or seek additional funds.
In 2019, the town was awarded $19.6 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD, transportation discretionary grants program.
The money was awarded to make major improvements to Lubec’s harbor to protect fishermen and boats.
“The new Safe Harbor in Lubec will significantly improve safety for fishermen,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a news release at the time. “The project would allow 30 boats to tie up and would protect boats and fishermen in inclement weather. A year-round Safe Harbor for fishermen and the Maine Marine Patrol is essential for a local economy that relies on the fishing industry.”
The project is located off Maine Street, also Route 189, in Johnson Bay at Lubec.
According to the 2021 U.S. Army Corps of Engineering permit, the work involves the placement of up to about 3.29 acres of fill below the high tide line of Johnson Bay at Lubec in order to provide a safe harbor for the existing fishing fleet and for recreational and transient boaters
The safe harbor project consists of a 1,250-foot-long breakwater, boat ramp, piers, floats and paved parking area.
The time limit for completing the work authorized ends Dec. 31, 2026.
Fishery impacts
According to a statement on the need for the project, “The town requires a perennial boat launch within a safe harbor to service the minimum of 150 local commercial fishermen and shellfish harvesters. The fishing and shellfish harvesting industry impacts over 300 households and in many cases the sole income for those families. Local business owners also economically depend on this industry.”
From 2006-16, 69 million pounds of product were removed from Cobscook Bay with a value of $91.6 million.
“The fishing industry is the biggest employer in the town of Lubec, yet the entire fishing fleet is on moorings,” the statement says. “There is no safe harbor to shelter boats during storms. There are no available safe places to launch skiffs during high winds, in order to get to fishing vessels for operation or simply check on them.”
Fishermen are further hampered by the fact that they are limited to fishing on designated dates, regardless of weather conditions, due to fishery regulations.
“Because of the lack of any sheltered harbor, fishermen have lost their lives trying to get to or from their vessels,” the statement says.
The statement notes that the Marine Patrol also maintains a strong presence in Lubec, including a rescue/patrol boat.
“The boat is kept on a mooring in an unprotected harbor,” the statement says, adding, “The shore to mooring situation reduces a quick response during an emergency.”
Shortfall
But the bids were over budget. Rockland’s Prock Marine Co. came in at $24.3 million. The bid from Sargent Corp. in Stillwater was $41.27 million.
The town has spent $320,000 of the original tranche for consulting and engineering. That leaves a shortfall of about $6 million between what’s left and the low bid, Carol Dennison, chair of the Select Board, noted at a recent meeting.
Dennison said that, if the town is able to get more funding, the project has to go back out to bid and the town must come up with additional matching funds. If the town instead decides to reduce the scope of the project, it has to go back to federal permitting agencies for approval.
Selectmen authorized Dennison to bring the idea of reducing the project’s scope to the town’s safe harbor committee for further consideration.
Dennison said it would be important to have fishermen weigh in on any trimming of the project.
She estimated it could take four to six weeks to put the project back out to bid after a revised proposal is approved.
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