Who Owns Maine's Seaweed? Top Court To Decide

PORTLAND, Maine - A fight over who owns the seaweed that can be harvested along the coast of Maine is going all the way to the state's highest court.
 
Commercial seaweed harvesting is an industry in Maine, where harvesters typically collect a combined total of more than 10 million pounds per year. But harvesters and some shorefront property owners are locked in a dispute over whether it's being taken from private property.
 
WCSH-TV reports a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the property owners, blocking a Nova Scotia company from harvesting in intertidal zones in Downeast Maine. The Maine Supreme Court will now decide if that ruling should stand.
 
An attorney for the Nova Scotia harvester argues that the state owns intertidal waters and the marine resources in them.