Wayne Davis

Location of Interview
Collection Name

Voices from the Working Waterfront Oral History Project

Description

Working waterfronts are inherently entwined with the social and cultural aspects of their host communities; they are integral to how community members define themselves and set themselves apart from others. This project captures and preserves oral histories highlighting the importance of working waterfronts to the nation’s fisheries, economy, and coastal communities. 

Date of Interview
01-09-2015
Transcribers

Shelley Chance

Principal Investigator
Audio
Transcript
Abstract

Wayne Davis is a commercial lobsterman from Tremont, Maine. Wayne Davis was interviewed to capture his family’s experience using the Maine Working Waterfront Access Protection Plan (WWAPP) to secure the Davis wharf’s future as a commercial fishing pier in perpetuity. Mr. Davis describes the important history of the Davis wharf to that region of Mount Desert Island and how, in the late 2000’s, the effects of the lobster price collapse due to the recession triggered extreme pressure on the family to sell. Mr. Davis describes how his family undertook the laborious process of first understanding the legal jargon surrounding a covenant, and then applying for WWAPP funding. In a part of the coast where most working waterfronts have been converted to noncompatible uses, Mr. Davis shares the deep gratitude his family and the community feel as a result of this public funding helping ensure that the wharf will remain a working waterfront into the future.


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