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Maine’s Top Court Sides With Property Owners In Dispute Over Rockweed Harvesting

Contributed photo
/
via Bangor Daily News
A ledge is seen at low tide after rockweed was cut by vacuum machine in Cobscook Bay, near Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, in August 2012.

Maine’s highest court on Thursday ruled that rockweed along the seashore isn’t public property, siding with coastal homeowners in a case that pitted them against business interests.

The 30-page opinion issued by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a 2017 Washington County Superior Court decision that affirmed property owners’ right to deny cutters the right to harvest the brown alga.

“We agree that rockweed in the intertidal zone belongs to the upland property owner and therefore is not public property, is not held in trust by the State for public use, and cannot be harvested by members of the public as a matter of right,” the law court wrote in its decision.

The debate over who owns rockweed has simmered in the state for years, with coastal property owners, cutters and state regulators attempting to balance competing interests.

The president of Acadian Seaplants, a Canada-based company that appealed the lower court’s decision, said Thursday morning that the ruling was “extremely unfortunate for an entire industry and Maine’s economy.”

“The sustainable harvesting of rockweed has created jobs and grown businesses, all of which are creating sustainable and environmentally friendly products,” Jean-Paul Deveau said.

Acadian will continue to maintain its operations in Maine despite the law court’s decision. The company employs five full-time workers, up to 30 seasonal harvesters and two year-round mechanical harvesters. Its operations are mostly based out of Washington County, the company said.

This story appears through a media sharing agreement with Bangor Daily News.