Very Fcw Large, Ocean-Going Vessels Visit Rockland, However, Since The

ROCK LAND Physical Setting and Population Rockland is located on the west shore of Penobscot Bay about 80 miles northeast of Portland. In 1970, the population of the city was 8505. Rockland's importance is far greater than population figures alone suggest. It is the fifth largest port in NewEngland. It is the county seat of Knox County. It is also the largest city in this part of thc state of Maine, so that its stores, restaurants, hospital, and professional offices serve people of the entire Knox County region and beyond. Rockland is dominated by the sea, Although there are relatively few fishing boats operating out of Rockland, the city is hometo dozens of firms which process fish or serve the mari- time industry. In somerespects, the city is morc a processing and marine manufacturing center than it is a fishing port. ~Maor Industries and Economic Pursuits Manufacturing plants are the largest employers in Rockland. The largest plants are as follows: I! Marine Colloids sea moss products!, ! Van Baalen Corp clothing!, ! Fisher Fngineering snowplows!, ! National Sea Products frozen fish products!, and ! Martin Marietta Corporation, which produces cement in its plant across the city line in Thomaston. These plants each employ over 200 people. Another important plant is ownedby the Bicknell Manufacturing Companywhose 40 employeesare engagedprimarily in the production of stone quarrying tools. There are also four sardine plants and a redfish plant, which employ approximately 850 people from Rockland and sur- rounding towns on a seasonal basis primarily June to December!. There are dozens of smaller firms which employa total of several hundredpeople processing fish, repairing boats, manufacturing boat parts, fishing gear, business forms, etc, In addition, of course, there are a large number of Rockland mcn who work on boats themselves. While Rockland is not a mecca for tourists, the Samoset Resort Hotel is located on Jameson Point on the northern shore of Rockland l arbor. The Samosethas 150 rooms, a golF course, swimmingpool, indoor tennis courts, and is perhaps the most luxurious resort hotel in Maine. The city is also the homeport for three boats of the schooner fleet which take tourists out for week-long cruises between Boothbay and Mt. Desert Island during July and August. General Infrastructure U. S. Highway I goes right through Rockland, and the city is served by a spur of the Maine Central Railroad. The city's downtownsection is about four blocks long, and is lined with a wide variety of stores, banks, restaurants, and hotels. Most of these business establishments are housed in red brick buildings which were constructed in the late 1800's or early in the present century. The courthouse, library, and hospital are one block west of the main street, on Union Street . The city is also servedby the Pen-BayMedical Center, a newregional hospital, which is located on U. S. I, in Rockport, several miles north of Rockland. The city also has a numberof bars which cater to fishermenand plant workers. Westof the commercialsection of town are several neigh- borhoods with tree-lined streets and houses built in the early part of this century. As one moves further from the center of town, the houses generally becomepoorer, and there are several large trailer parks. There are very few one story ranch housesof the type that grace most of the suburbs of the United States. Port Infrastructure Rockland has a very large harbor. The outer harbor is protected by a stone breakwater about seven-tenthsof a mile long, which extendsfrom JamesonPoint at the northern end of the harbor. Very fcw large, ocean-goingvessels visit Rockland,however, since the inner harborchannel is only 18 feet deepand the~e are no very large dockswhere such vessels could be loadedor unloaded, The largest vessels that regularly visit Rocklandare Coast Guardships and large fishing boats, but these are well under 150 feet long. Whenlarge boats do visit Rockland, they must be accom- panied by a pilot, since a pilot is mandatoryfor all such vessels entering or departing any port within Penobscot Bay. 115 Rockland has a Coast Guard Station where several USCG ships are regularly stationed. It is also a Customs part of entry, although the closest Customs office is in Belfast. Immigration officers, however, normally come from Portland on those few occasions when that is necessary. The Coast Guard, however, has a vessel documentation officer stationed in Rockland. The Maine State Ferry Service operates a dock at the northern end of the harbor to serve the ferry boats operating between Rockland and the islands af North Havenand Vinalhaven. A smaller ferry boat, capable of taking only passengers, operated from the ferry dock in Rockland and served the island of Matinicus; however, this boat was condemned in 1.977 and as of 1979 had not been replaced. There are two general anchorages in Rackland harbor, with about 120 moorings. These moorings are allocated by the harbor master. There are two publically-awned wharfs, and one boat launching ramp. In addition, there are 21 large piers or wharfs owned by companies and plants operating along the Rockland waterfront. Types of Fishing Rockland is involved in several important ways with every type of fishing and fish processing that is done in Maine. Men from Rockland go lobstering, and they operate boats further off shore for groundfish, scallops, and redfish. In addition, Rockland has three canning operations; a plant which fillets herring and groundfish; another which processes redfish; and still another which processes frozen fish blacks. Lobster 1. Number of Boats, People, and Fishing Areas There are 36 men fram Rackland itself who are actively involved in lobstering. However, only six of them are full-time fishermen operating from Rockland itself. Another five men live in Rockland and keep their boats somewhereelse. Mast of these men are operating aut of Spruce Head, Owls Head or South Thomaston, Several have exclusive fishing rights in the waters around some of the islands in the Muscle Ridge Channel, There are also 25 part-time fishermen who live in Rockland. The vast majority of these people fish in small skiffs near Rockland itself in the warm months of the year. Most of their in- comecomes from the jobs they hald in Rackland's plants, or by working on large offshore draggers. Only two of these part-time fishermen live and work in Rockland, but do their fishing from another harbor. Rockland is far enoughup Penobscot Bay so that there are very few lobsters available in the winter months. During February and March of 1978, there were only three boats operating from Rockland Harbor itself. 2. Marketing There are no lobster dealers or lobster fishermen's cooperatives in Rockland. All of the Rockland lobster fishermen sell their catches at Owl's Head or at Spruce Head or else sell directly ta one of the seafood dealers in Rockland e.g. Jordan's Seafood!. 3. Processing No lobsters are processed or canned in Rockland. 116 Number of Boats, People, and Fishing Areas In 1978 several Rockland boats went dragging for groundfish. There were three older, eastern- rigged draggcrs, with three man crews, that fished primarily within fifty miles of the mouth of Penobscot Bay, Western Sea and Western Wave, two large steel boats ownedby the Stinson Canning Company, dragged for cod, haddock, hake and flatfish during the spring of 1977 and 1978 when they were not pair trawling for herring. These two boats each have a crew of four. In addition, there are five large steel draggers t'90 to 119 feet long!, ownedby F, J, O'Hara and Sons, Inc. which have crews of six to eleven mon and fish all over the Gulf of Maine. The primary target fish of the O' Hara fleet is ocean perch, but all of these boats land sub- stantial quantities of other groundfish as a by-product, Marketing Western Sea and Western Wave regularly land all their fish herring and groundfish! at the Stinson Company plant on the south side of the Rockland waterfront., where the fish are filleted and packed, The O' Hara fleet boats and the other privately owned boats, land their catches at the F. J. O'Hara Companywharf. The ocean perch are generally processed at the O' Hara Companyplant on the wharf; the groundfish are ordinarily trucked to the Boston market, and sold through a broker. Some are sold to Jordan's Seafood Market and other local dealers. Processing Haddock, cod, hake, pollock and flatfish caught by the Stinson Companyboats, and by other boats under contract to the Stinson Company,land their fish at the Stinson plant where they are filleted and put out either as fresh or as frozen fish for the wholesale market. The ocean perch caught by the O' Hara fleet are processed at the O'Hara plant. The National Sea Products factory processes over 100,000 lbs. of frozen groundfish per day. Some of this fish is purchased from the Stinson plant, but most comes from Gloucester, Boston or Canada in the form of frozen fish blocks. Number of Boats, People, and Fishing Areas No Rockland fishermen own or operate weirs or stop seine operations. A few men, periodically, do work on stop seine operations owned by men from other towns such as Tenant's Harbor or Port Clyde. There are three Rockland boats, however, that spend a great proportion of their time fishing for herring: Western Sea and Western Wave, owned by the Stinson Canning Company, have been pair trawling for herring in Maine waters during the fall, and in Massachusetts in the winter. The Holmes Packing Companyalso owns a purse seiner, which normally fishes for herring only in the summer and fall near Penobscot Bay.

Load more