The government better get a handle on this guick. Sea urchins were decimated by unregulated harvesting. This will not end well if left unchecked.I think eliminating it entirely is a little extreme, but understanding what is sustainable really needs to be determined soon.

once again our gov has screwed up.cut down the seaweed and it changes the natural balance of the waters ,but the all mighty dollar will win out.screw the next generation ,so sad.peace

Oh man are they missing the boat.

Go inland

Lakes in Maine are overflowing with unwanted vegetation. Milfoil is certainly one of the worst, but there are many species. In terms of biomass or fertilizer, or cowfeed I am certain these species are just as useful. It's just used as fodder and the stuff in the lakes is very nutritive.

Good grief....rake these lakes for profuse vegetation...they certainly could use a cleanup.

Make it a seasonal activity so as not to disrupt fish spawning. The plants grow at extremely prolific rates. They become a nuisance by the end of the season. Late summer clear into freezing would be ideal. In fact, much of the vegetation in lakes dies during the winter and slowly decomposes causing a hazard for fish.

Of course, any such activity would need the blessings of lawmakers so don't hold your breath.

Just another thing to exploit. In 50 years when theres nothing left to exploit what are we going to do then. I'm so sick and tired of destruction for the sake of jobs. A little foresight and planning could produce sustainable harvesting of anything and create jobs in any sector. Instead idiots just go and try to make a buck with no thought to the consequences of their actions. The earth is biosphere, an ecosystem with limited resources to support living organisms.

Take a test tube full of agar or something else microorganisms eat. Put some bacteria in it. Watch them multiply and flourish. Then watch them all die when the agar is gone.

Such a simple concept, too bad only stupid people multiply in this country.

Easy there fellas. I'm pretty sure if ol' Chouan was harvesting seaweed in that skimpy little outfit right off the low-tide line of your million dollar property, you'd be in your $2500 picture window checking her out with your $500 Bushnells, and asking yourself, "Mother who?" (or is it whom?)

Jerry Lingley is my son and I am very PROUD of him for his Hard Work this Summer up at 4 to get to work at 5am...He Graduate in June from WA, and Aug 2010 leaves for NC to Nascar School....People that really do not know anything about the Rockweed should really go and watch how they do it..

GOOD JOB JERRY......

Fish farming=NO. Seaweed harvesting=NO. Casino=NO. LNG=NO. Shame on you Washington county. What were you thinking by trying to survive economically. Next they will take away wrinkle and mussel harvesting. I hope people can figure out a way to make money doing nothing in Washington county.

I am surprised to hear that landowners claim title to the low water mark. Maine has a clam aquaculture law on the books that doesn't recognize this ownership. I think that out-of-staters might own to the low water mark?? Clam diggers and wrinkle harvesters would not be able to work if landowners owned to low water.

Washington County is in the out-of-stater business. They have been reaping that harvest for some time now. Absolutely nothing must happen for economic activity because this leads to restlessness with the natives on the weekends.

Regarding Shown77's comment:

I thought the comment was a joke..."Nascar School", what a hoot! And then I looked it up and apparently there really is a Nascar School. LOL

Good luck... I guess.

Nascar school? I think I'd rather go watch that than rockweed harvesting. Nascar school? Really? Google, here I come...

IslandDave, your philosophy and observations are just too accurate to overlook and must be underscored to give due emphasis. Destructive jobs are for those who want to stay where they are, in all respects, and do whatever it takes. And all of this is for cattle feed? Oh yeah, that is another sustainable agricultural practice that apparently requires seaweed now that the corn is going to replace all the gas we consume. It never ceases to amaze me. Go Dave, give them hell. I with you on this one. Maine needs to use the natural resources not stay in a harvest mentality.

Re: NASCAR school

It's real, and it looks very cool. Congratulations to Jerry, no matter how he made the money to pay his way.

Why are people making fun of someone who wants to further his education??

Schoonerdog..I do not know why they would make fun of some-one that want to further his education..I'll help you guys do not understand NASCAR SCHOOL...IT IS CALLED U.T.I......THAT IS UNIVERSAL TECHICAL INSTITUTE IN MOOREVILLE NC...THEY DEAL IN AUTO/DIESEL/NASCAR TECH....He has want to do this for years and years..... I AM GLAD HE IS GOING TO GET OUT OF MAINE THERE IS NO JOBS HERE...LETS HIM STAY HERE BE ON WELFARE LIKE MOST OF THE FREAKING PEOPLE ARE DOING...OR DO ROCKWEED THE REST OF HIS LIFE.......NOT...NOT...NOT....SO PLEASE GROW UP AND BE HAPPY THIS YOUNG MAN WANT TO WORK AND MAKE MONEY FOR HIS EDUCATION...I KNOW I AM PROUD OF HIM AND ALL HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE...ANY-ONE KNOWS JERRY KNOWS HE IS A GREAT YOUNG MAN........AND HE COMES FROM A VERY HARD WORKING FAMILY HIS DAD HAS WORKED FOR THE SAME COMPANY FOR 25YEARS AND I HAVE BEEN IN HEATH CARE FOR OVER 25YEAR....

Good luck for your sons future. I am aware of UTI, and other "Nascar" schools. Virginia Tech also has "Nascar" courses. These courses are intense engineering courses. I guess some of the more "un" educated people would make fun of someone trying to further their education. If you said your son was going to get a degree in "green" technology, people would be praising his efforts.

Just more greed. Fishermen have devastated the fish stocks and almost anything that lives in the Ocean. Now they want to destroy the life giving plant that keeps the Ocean alive and all its creatures. Maine needs to ban all seaweed harvesting immediately before the coastline is devastated by these greedy people. Ironic, its always the people who own nothing of the resource that rape it to death.

Hang on, schoonerdog. Both posters who initially got a chuckle out of NASCAR school looked it up and came back with greater understanding and wished Jerry good luck. And obviously Showm77 is a deservedly proud parent, as shown by his or her emphatic use of capitalization.

Good job Jerry...you sinner.

Some of that seaweed is used by Organic farmers to grow veggies. It is loaded with a wide array of minerals that freshwater weeds do not have. This industry has been running for decades and it is regulated. Property owners are just whinning. It is a shame that so many folks are against business.

The irony of this is too funny by half. Rockweed is a native of europe and brought here in the ballast of some 19th century ship. If it appeared today it would be decried asan invasive species and all these do-gooders would be screaming for its elimination and we'd be selling ROCKWEED STICKERS to put on ocean going vessels. By the way periwinkles came here the same way about the same time. Why does Washington County make it so hard to earn a living? NIMBYS!!!

To Jerry Lingley,

Congrats on going to UTI. I'm sure that you will also get your share of "green" technology while you are there as it is now a big part of the auto industry. Your family has every right to be proud as you further your education. Best wishes to you.

Hey folks, here are two industrious individuals, Jerry and Chouan, that have decided to make something of themselves.

It sure beats those who just sat around all summer yakking on their cell phones or texting 24/7 and have nothing to show for it. It also goes to show that there is work out there but this job sure doesn't look like its easy to me.

Again, kudos to Jerry, Chouan, and all those who do the tough jobs many of us wouldn't do.

I'm delighted people are making money in Washington County, BUT, I "own" my shore front property to the low water mark (which is halfway across Whiting bay) I pay taxes on this property at a greater percentage per acre than do people who own inland acres. Since my father purchased it in 1966, we have lost the right to take clams from this land (for domestic use) without a license, we have lost our right to maintain a dock or for awhile even venture out to the point (where there was an Eagle nest) We can no longer place a structure or even cut a tree within seventy five feet of the shore, (shore land zoning) and now I must allow some Canadian firm to cut rock weed on my land without paying the landowner. If I went down the road, and "cut" the blueberries off my neighbor's land without paying him, I'd be called a thief, and rightly so.

Knightscross;

Before you arbitrarily label fishermen and seaweed harvesters as greedy self servers ask yourself a question.

Do these folks bust their butts 'raping' the resources for fun? No, they do it to get paid. They get paid because there's a market. There's a market because people consume it. PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME. If there was no market for fish and seaweed nobody would bother to gather/catch it.

Does that make sense to you? Do you see that YOU are just as much responsible for depleting resources as the people who make a living getting the stuff on your plate?

Rockweed has been harvested on the coast of maine for over thirty years. Many, many studyies have been done in the U.S. and in Canada in the way of sustainability and have shown there is no problem with the current harvest practices. Robin Hadlock-Seely enjoys the attention she gets for starting controversy where none existed before. When she and her cohorts took some state officials out to show them the devestated areas to which she refers, they could not find one area to prove their point. Her credentials and her credibility have come into question time and time again.

Also, whether shorefront owners want to believe it or not, they do not own to the low water mark. Their claim to the low water mark, by law, only grants them the right to build a pier. No living organism in the intertidal zone belongs to them. Not the clams, not the crabs, not the rockweed.

Rockweed is harvested and made into animal feed supplements (not animal feed), plant growth regulators, and even food grade products. The use of rockweed products allows the those in the agriculture industry to move away from artificial chemicals they have used in the past to keep their livestock and crops healthy.

The harvest of rockweed, with the current regulations and practices, is good for Maine and good for the environment.

Big Govt taking over Harry. I bet you pay plenty of taxes on it and you can't even do anything to it.

So who's right, HarryHSnyderIII, who maintains that he owns the land to the low water mark, or dpreston, who says Harry doesn't?

I think what Harry is saying he owns to the low water mark for taxation purposes. That's just typical in the way they do it.

How about instead of harvesting rock weed,

We harvest Industrial Hemp!

Industrial Hemp can do all the functions we're harvesting seaweed for and more.

I know, I know, the Federal Government forbids it,

But as soon as they come around to their senses,

Maine already has a law on the books to hit the ground running when they do.

Hemp for Victory and sustainability!

Anniepooh and others,

If you go to www.maineseaweed.org you will find a link to a white paper prepared by David Slade that lays out the evolution of the public trust rights of intertidal zones from colonial times on. It's a lot of law speak and open to interpretation, as many laws are, but I think it shows that there has never been any law that would specifically grant shorefront owners exclusive rights to the intertidal zone and all that it contains.

I'm not sure how owners of shorefront are really taxed today, but the intent was that they should not be taxed on the intertidal zone until they built a wharf or pier, and then they would be taxed on that structure.

How could property lines even begin to be drawn on a hundred acre mudflat in a cove with landowners on three sides? It just doesn't make sense if you think about it.

anniepooh- I don't know who's right but I bet these landowners would lay claim to the water as well as the land if they could. This state is being consumed by wealthy out-of-staters who buy up the property, then deny access to Maine natives.

The Stewards of the Earth are going stir-crazy in the Tower of Babbling. Nature bats last. (mixed metaphor).

dpreston: thanks.

nurse54: I understand your frustration. One of my favorite beaches around Stonington (that I'd been visiting for thirty years) is now off-limits thanks to the new owners. Needless to say they're not locals.

Eugene, actually bats are having a rough time right now too. Something about a new white mold/fungus threat that grows on them while they hybernate.

If I recall correctly, landowners don't even own all rights between high and low water. That edge is open to anyone for fishing or fowling. At any event, landowners have little jurisdiction over the intertidal zone and certainly no jurisdiction over the laminarian zone (where much seaweed is harvested) in Maine. There should be some happy medium between clipping seaweed too close to the holdfast and leaving it altogether. It does grow pretty quickly if it's left alone for awhile, and can be harvested sustainably. The people from away who think they own the bottom should have checked with a lawyer before buying, and if they don't like our laws, they can always go back where they came from. And good riddance. Possessiveness over unoccupied, unimproved, and unused real estate is not compatible with New England values, although I'm sure it is virtually a genetic trait in New York and New Jersey. (Speaking as a 10th and 12th generation WASP landowner.)

And by the way, fishermen were the first to petition government about overfishing and destructive new technology, as early as the introduction of tub trawls before the Civil War. They encouraged state and then federal governments to institute first State Fish Commissions, and then the US Fish Commission. The US Fish Commission, under Spencer Baird, began supporting more "efficient" and vastly more destructive fishing practices in 1878, with the introduction of Norwegian Cod Gill Nets. Before you complain about overfishing, familiarize yourself with the history of the problem. It's only in the past 50 or so years that the successors to the USFC began to worry about stock depletion.

Did you see tha photo? I hope OSHA isnt called; plus its a minor in that death trap. I didnt see a life jacket either.

This may help settle the extent of the landowners rights. Basically, the landowner does own to the mean low water mark up to 1650 feet below the mean high water mark. However, due to a colonial era law, the public is allowed access to the intertidal zone, the area between the high water mark and the low water mark for "fishing, fowling, and navigation" purposes. You may not cross the landowner's property to access the intertidal area unless the owner has granted permission. For more information, please see this website below, especially page 5.

http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/files/pdf-global/04pubacc.pdf

Hey RotoFrank, do you know the RotoPluker??????

Showm77 - Why are you yelling at me? What did I ever do to you?

"I hope people can figure out a way to make money doing nothing in Washington county"

A great many already have: SSDI, welfare, LIHEAP, and foodstamps

boogyman the sea urchins are gone because of a die off.Had little to do with overfishing.Ask an oldtimer they will tell you that they come in cycles.Good news for those who still have licences they are coming back.

Telefunkinu47, no I don't.

anniepooh, Marlboro Beach in Lamoine is privately owned but is still used by the public. You are welcome there.

Rogue_Wave.....To let you know Jerry does not have to have his Life Jackets on!! It just needs to be in the BOAT.....And he can work just because he is 17 he has a license....So before you post stuff Please find out what you are TALKING ABOUT!!!!!! And I would never put my son in a DEATH TRAP....So Please go fry your ASS...................

get out of our bays and stop the erosiion of our coastline...... who allows this???? legislators relaxing on our time????

All this hoopla so cows aren't stressed? Perhaps the cows should graze on some cannabis, it wouldn't hurt the environment.

$1000 a week? Sign me up!

The seaweed is a resource for us to take. Harvest it all.

Wow, so if I own to the low water mark that means i've just increased my property tenfold. I'm going to put no trespassing signs on floats all over the bay...

I suppose I should insert a hint of sarcasm before I get called names...

Life jacket still has to be on the water vessle; dont see it there bub. Im calling OSHA.

Rogue-Wave call OSHA you are just going to look like a fool like you do on here.....

Shore front owners are taxed by the foot along the high water mark. Although old deeds say people own 'to the low water mark,' a court case down state some 20+ years ago said that land owners couldn't stop anyone from walking on land below the high water mark. You might be able to stop someone from crossing your property to get to the shore, but you can't stop people (fishermen in particular) from being on the beach.

Atleast this 17 year old kid is working, maybe some of the others can learn a lesson or two.....

Actually B_Godot, owners can stop anyone from walking in the intertidal area if they are not engaged in "fishing, fowling or navagation". I believe the down state case you refer to is the Moody Beach case in Wells. Below is some text as a result of that case. Fortunately, most owners don't mind the public use of these areas.

After Moody Beach: The Public’s Rights along the Shore in Maine

Anne Bernard

The public still has the right, by virtue of an easement created by the Colonial Ordinance, to

use privately owned intertidal land, but only if it is engaged in fishing, fowling, or navigation.

The land to which this easement applies is the area

between mean high water and mean low water (or to

1,650 feet seaward from the high water, if the mean

low watermark is even farther seaward). If the

shoreline is beach, this is the wet sand area. If the

shoreline is marsh, mudflat, or ledge, the intertidal

area will commonly consist of gravel beaches or mud

flats.

The lands seaward of mean low water (or 1,650 feet

from high water) are called submerged lands. They are

owned by the state. Public use is not restricted to

fishing, fowling, or navigation. The public generally

has unrestricted use of the water and sea bottom,

subject to state regulations. However, public rights to

use certain submerged lands may be restricted by

leases between the state and private individuals in

which the lessee is granted exclusive use of particular

submerged lands such as for aquaculture or marinas.

The dry sand area or rocky shore area above mean

high water and adjacent uplands are generally

privately owned. (Only about 7% of the coastline is

under public ownership.) The public has no absolute

right to make any use of that privately owned land for

recreation, fishing, fowling, navigation or any other

purpose. Neither does the public have a right to pass

over privately owned upland to obtain access to the

intertidal area to engage in fishing, fowling, or

navigation. In Maine, there has been a custom of

“permissive access” or “permissive trespass,” which

the public has relied on to cross privately owned,

unimproved, unposted land with the assumption that

they had informal permission of the owner. However,

this customary use rarely achieves the status of a

legally enforceable right and depends on continued

landowner acquiescence. Further, landowners

generally do not have any special duty of care to

protect users from injury under this type of access.

Clearly, the public has rights to use the upland if it is

publicly owned, subject to any governmental

regulations. The public also has a right to use the

upland if the public has been granted an easement

over private land, such as with a public road or public

path. The public may also have a legally enforceable

right of use if the upland owner has granted the public

the right to use it by license, lease, or otherwise.

Finally, as discussed above, even though not a legally

enforceable right, the public may be able to cross

private, unimproved, unposted land through the

tradition of permissive access, but only with the actual

or implied permission of the property owner.

Yeah it's great to have a FOREIGN company motoring by your house everyday. Maybe let's create a great migratory road for Mexicans throught the back yards of all you pro-harvest retards. I have never seen a harvester wearing a life jacket either. Just take it all, let's have a lifeless fragmented sterile shore for once with no sea life. The tourists will love it. So will Sen. Raye I think.

To clarify the issue, both of the harvesters pictured had lifejackets in their boats. They do not need to be wearing them when working only when they LEAVE the boat. When they went to the platform to unload their harvest, both wore lifejackets.

A note to anyone not living in this area that are making comments about these hard working kids, shut the heck up, and go find a life. Sad when morons from central, and southern Maine talk about things they have no idea about, only to see their words being printed on this site.