October 2024 update:
As defendants we represent the thousands of shoreland owners in Maine trying to protect wild seaweed habitat.
We are the 7 defendants sued for following a Maine court decision that allows us to protect the rockweed habitat on our land, or for advocating for rockweed protection. Members of the rockweed industry are suing us. They lost in early 2024 and now are appealing that loss in Maine Supreme Court. We continue to need funds to be represented by our attorney in Supreme Court.
We are trying to raise $15,000 through this GoFundMe site. (Our actual invoices total ~ $28,000.)
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We need your help. Maine’s coastline is being threatened by a powerful profit-based industry group that seeks broad rights to remove rockweed from thousands of acres of shoreland without permission. Rockweed provides vital habitat for commercially and recreationally-important marine and bird species including lobsters, bait fish, shellfish, and many types of waterfowl and migratory seabirds. As stated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, “unlike other fisheries and recreational activities occurring along Maine’s coast that may impact wildlife, rockweed harvest removes habitat.”
In 2019, only 5 years ago, the Maine Supreme Court unanimously concluded that “the public does not have the right to take attached plant life from that property in contradiction to the fee owner’s wishes.” In plain English that means that rockweed harvesters cannot remove rockweed unless a property owner allows it. Mechanical rockweed harvesting boats subsequently challenged this ruling by heavily harvesting coastal areas that were closed to cutting.
In May 2021, representatives of the rockweed industry sued in an attempt to transfer ownership of all privately owned shoreland to the state of Maine. This area is estimated at roughly 140,000 acres. If successful, this transfer would allow unlimited removal of rockweed from shoreland held by individuals or conservation groups. This result would be the same as giving the lumber industry free access to cut trees on property owned by others.
As defendants we represent the thousands of shoreland owners in Maine trying to protect wild seaweed habitat.
Rockweed’s primary use is as fertilizer and animal feed. To make a profit at 5 cents per pound, huge amounts of it must be cut and collected from the shoreland. (In 2020, this amounted to 15.6 million pounds.)
Removing rockweed habitat from Maine’s shoreland benefits the industry and its profit motive. But it directly harms an ecosystem vital to Maine’s commercial and sport fisheries and wildlife. Rockweed harvests also remove a huge living carbon-sequestering seaweed biomass, reduce land values, and diminish vital feeding grounds for migratory bird species that rely on Maine’s seaweed-covered shores. (Click here for more background about the rockweed issue in Maine.)
Your donation will fund the legal defense against those trying to remove protection of important seaweed habitat.
Stewards of shore habitat should not be intimidated by those whose interests are driven by profit. If you are a Maine shoreland owner or care about the protection of vital coastal habitat, join us in fighting this offensive lawsuit.
If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation to the Maine Coast Protection Fund through a 501(c)(3), please go to: https://mainerockweedcoalition.org/donate
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