The coastal access cohort will support eight coastal communities in maine as they complete working waterfront inventories and begin to incorporate results into municipal planning

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a $487,702 Project Grant under the Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program (CFDA 11.427) to the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association. This 2-year grant, effective February 1, 2025 through January 31, 2027, will support eight coastal communities in Maine as they complete working waterfront inventories and incorporate the results into municipal planning. This effort will help the communities identify critical infrastructure upon which Maine's commercial wild capture fisheries, intertidal harvesting, and aquaculture depend, and develop strategies to prioritize interventions to sustain coastal access for diverse seafood businesses. The grant will also facilitate peer-to-peer learning and connections between the communities, industry, academia, and private sector partners.

This work will help communities identify critical infrastructure upon which maines commercial wild capture fisheries, intertidal harvesting, and aquaculture depend. Towns gain a better sense for how development pressures and climate change increase vulnerabilities of scarce working waterfront resources and strategies to prioritize interventions to sustain coastal access for diverse seafood businesses. Building relationships across municipalities will allow for sustained peer-to-peer learning, sharing of experiences, and connections to industry, leading academic and private sector research organizations, and private sector partners. Metrics will be CO-developed with cohort members to help prioritize assets and understand tradeoffs given finite resources. A future of maines working waterfront colloquium will be hosted to extend learning beyond the initial cohort.