March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Proposal for Rockland fish auction gets cautious support from council> $250,000 project would include construction of cooler building, ice machine

ROCKLAND — A $250,000 proposal to establish a fish auction at an expanded city fish pier received carefully guarded enthusiasm from the City Council on Monday night.

Fish pier manager David MacDonald said the project, if it obtains city, state and federal funding and approval, could be up and running within two years, providing better services and prices to area fishermen. The project would include substantial improvement to the city pier and construction of a 30-by-60-foot fish cooler building and industrial ice machine. The Rockland operation would be a smaller version of the Portland Fish Exchange, which has proved successful and would be aimed at underused species such as urchin, periwinkles and eels. A Rockland auction could attract fish from a 100-mile radius, he said.

MacDonald operates the pier, which is owned by the city.

City Manager Richard Michaud said state officials have expressed support for the proposal. Ron Elder of the Department of Transportation expressed interest in “investing in Rockland,” Michaud said. Other agencies which have been contacted and which expressed preliminary interest include the Economic Development Administration, the Department of Economic and Community Development and the Eastern Maine Development District, all of which have development funds available.

With the drastic decrease in groundfish, state and federal agencies are urgently seeking alternate markets for Maine fishermen, Michaud said.

The Island Institute has also expressed support. Institute President Philip W. Conkling said last week that an auction could improve the quality and value of urchin landings and encourage fishermen from island communities to participate in the urchin fishery. Many island fishermen have been reluctant to get involved in the urchin fishery.

“A lot of improvement needs to be done” to the pier before such a project could get off the ground, MacDonald said. The “phase two”‘ of the pier project, promised by the state a decade ago, never was completed and only 40 percent of the pier is now usable, he said. A dredging project would also open up additional areas for fishermen’s use.

While expressing general support of the concept, council members such as Robert Peabody recognized several “red flags” in the proposal. He asked for an inclusive five-year projection of revenues and warned MacDonald against relying too heavily on the urchin business which could be gone in a couple of years. Peabody feared that the project could fail, and the city would be left with a dilapidated industrial building with no money for upkeep.

Peabody also expressed concern with the fish pier’s selling cooked lobster dinners and beverages, as proposed. “We need to be careful with the number of restaurants in the area. I have at least some concern about us competing with taxpayers. This needs to be thought out very carefully. We don’t want anyone to have an unfair advantage.”

Mayor Thomas J. Molloy reminded the council of the uproar when a hot dog stand was proposed for the public landing. “All of this has to be worked out. We have to be very careful,” Molloy said.

Paul Devine, whose Landings Restaurant overlooks the city fish pier, expressed cautious support of the project. “We support the idea to have an auction as long as the housekeeping is good,” he said. Harbor Master Ken Rich also expressed support for the concept.

The pier now operates at a disadvantage because of a lack of ice facilities. The O’Hara Ice Co. now supplies the boats but has expressed interest in dropping that business, MacDonald said. “We are going to need someone to take up the slack,” he said.

Councilor Lewis Metcalf proposed that a committee of fishermen and fishing industry members be established to watch over the project and keep the council informed.

The council encouraged applications for federal and state sources, while further examination of the proposal is conducted.


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