Fishing Businesses
In 2009, Holbrook Wharf was rebuilt by HCF. Last renovated in 1945, the wharf was in poor condition with rotten pilings and decking. A new structure was built for use by commercial fishermen. This space is available for lease to 4 – 5 fishing-related businesses. The all-tide deep-water wharf accommodates commercial fishing boats for loading and unloading. The new ground-level section of the wharf provides direct access for trucks. Check out our commercial floats and hydraulic lift!
Commercial fishing enterprises that have used our wharf and/or bays include a maker of lobster traps, a local fisherman, a builder who repairs and builds moorings, wharves, floats and boats, a seaweed operation, a herring fisherman and a tuna business.
Marine Environmental Data
The Holbrook Community Foundation started hosting a Continuous Monitoring Station for the Friends of Casco Bay in March 2020. FOCB whimsically calls it a “Cage of Science." This cage, like a lobster trap, contains probes that measure chemical and physical properties of the water. Electronic probes measure factors such as temperature, turbidity, salinity, chlorophyll, acidity, and dissolved oxygen. The cage was updated in the summer of 2025 with equipment that sends real time data to the Friends of Casco Bay. FOCB uses this and other data to understand factors influencing biological productivity and to calculate the capacity of the water to support shell growth, information potentially useful to New Meadows shellfish growers and harvesters like those in the New Meadows River Shellfish Cooperative.
For 25 years, FOCB monitored the water of Casco Bay with volunteers sampling and testing water every two weeks in the summer. You might have seen the volunteers with a thermometer, Secchi disk, buckets, sample bottles, and cold hands. One of eight Harpswell sites was at Bethel Point. From this and other work, FOCB learned enough to want to dig deeper in three carefully chosen locations by analyzing the water every hour, every day of the year. Holbrook’s wharf is one of the sites. This work will reveal environmental patterns and changes over time. Holbrook’s wharf, however, allows researchers also to investigate the unique influence of Kennebec River water that sweeps west around Cape Small on eastern Casco Bay. What effect does the influx of fresh water have? How does it vary seasonally? Fodder for science researchers, and also oyster lovers wondering if that’s what makes New Meadows oysters so deliciously sweet.
Collaboration with New Meadows Aquaculture Growers
Support to the New Meadows Shellfish Cooperative
In 2019 The Holbrook Community Foundation sponsored ten oyster farmers to form the New Meadows River Shellfish Cooperative with long-term goals of establishing a market presence, distribution, and raising operating efficiencies from cost and equipment sharing. Aquaculture is a fast growing part of Maine’s economy. The foundation is proud to support this initiative and further strengthen its commitment to preserving working waterfronts. For information contact HCF board member Mackin Pulsifer.
Information about oyster farming in Maine is available on the following websites:
Partnership with Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA)
In 2017, HCF provided financial support for a needs assessment study of Harpswell’s commercial fishing community which was conducted by MCFA. We hope that this study will facilitate the Town’s and HCF’s future efforts to develop and support programs which will benefit commercial fishing in Harpswell. See the full report, Beyond the Bow: A Fisheries Needs Assessment of Harpswell 2017 on the MCFA website.