A Proposal to Establish a Marine Sanctuary in Maine Part 2.

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6. Scientific Data Deficiencies
While this site and the local region as a whole are relatively well known, the ways in which the major functional components interact to support the -regional productivity is poorly understood. We know something of the marine resources, but how is resource production linked to the physical, chemical and other biQlogical components to generate this production? What are the levels of primary production of food? What parameters influence these levels? What mechanisms translate this food production into animals higher on the food web, and what is the efficiency of these energy transfer processes? The densities of important marine resources should also be better known. If this Sanctuary is to serve as a- "baseline" or "reference" area, the levels of pollutants in the water column, bottom sediments, and biological tissues should be examined and periodically monitored.

C. Historic, Cultural and Recreational Features
The body of this description of major historic and cultural features was prepared by Kevin Kelly.

1. The Islands
Within the Marine Sanctuary are included the islands forming the heart of the 17th century fishing settlement in Maine. Most prominent is Damariscove Island which is on the National Register of Historic Places, The first permanent settlement there was in 1622, making it Maine's first permanent European settlement.

Damariscove was first described by Captain John Smith; who in 1614 noted that the island would make an ideal settlement as he explored the coast of Maine. The island soon became the scene of seasonal fishing activity by the English. In 1622, a year-round fortified settlement was established. Damariscove then became a thriving fishing station. The fishermen here dried their catch in summer and the fish were then taken to England in autumn.

Monhegan Island was a well-known landfall among early voyagers. It was the base from which John Smith explored the Maine coast in 1614. A permanent fishing station existed there from 1623-25, and was then moved to Pemaquid on the mainland. Another Monhegan site is believed to have been used for swordfish hunting 4000 years ago.

Fisherman's Island, White Island and the Heron Islands were also likely used for fishing in the 17th century. Archaeological work should be done to establish this.

2. The Mainland
There are mainland sites in the Sanctuary region dating from the 1620's and 30's. These are Cape Newagen, Sheepscot, Pemaquid and New Harbor. Cape Newagen has high potential for archaeological discovery of 1620's fishing stations. .It is known that Capt. Christopher Levett was there in 1623 trading with the Indians and that fishing had been taking place there at that time. Artifacts dating from 1625-50 have been discovered.

The Popham colony of 1607-08 is believed to have existed on the western shore of the Kennebec River near the mouth. This very early colony has not yet been positively located and further archaeological work should be done.

3. Indian Coastal Settlements
At a nearby location on the coast of Maine (Deer Isle - North Haven area), a scallop dragger recently brought up some stone tools. This indicates there may have been a coastal Indian settlement there which is now underwater. There is a good possibility that these kinds of sites may exist within the Marine Sanctuary area also.

The area within the Sanctuary is also considered very likely to contain many prehistoric sites.The types of features likely in this area are shell middens, seal hunting camps, fishing camps and black earth middens.

Information Sources

Personal communication:

Robert Bradley - Maine Historic Preservation Commission Alaric Faulkner - University of Maine

Bruce Bourke, Steve Cox - Maine State Museum Warren Reiss

Literature:

Carl R. Griffin III and Alaric Faulkner.
1981. Coming of Age on Damariscove Island, Maine. Penobscot Times, Old Town.

David Sanger. Mbr>1979. Discovering Maine's Archaeological Heritage. Maine Hist, Pres. Comm., Augusta.

Harold B. Clifford.
1961. The Boothbay Region, 1906 to 1960. The Bond Wheelwright Co., Freeport,

Institute for Conservation Archaeology, Peabody Museum, Harvard Univ. 1979. A Summary and Analysis of Cultural Resource Information on the Continental Shelf from the Bay of Fundy to Cape Hatteras:

4. Shipwrecks
The Sanctuary area is the site of many reported shipwrecks. Many of these are sloops and schooners from the 19th century, some from the 18th century. Rocks and ledges near the islands are the sites of many of these wrecks. Before lighthouses and other aids to navigation were built, mariners found this area treacherous.

Following is a list summarizing the reported shipwrecks with location, number of. wrecks, and year of earliest and year of latest wreck at that location:

Seguin Island 1 1915 Newagen 5 1824-1855 Green Island 1 1870 Little Cuckolds 1 1896 Damariscove Island 8 1785 Bantam Rock 1 1941 Thrumcap at least 2 1800's, 1900's Lowell's Island 1 1786 The Hypocrites 1 1881 Squirrel Island 2 1867, 1884 Fisherman's Island 5 1807-1913 Pumpkin Island 7 1829-1911 Pemaquid ledges 3 1860-1903 White Islands 4 1826-1880 Monhegan Island 4 (3) 1800's (1) 1900's

Nine more wrecks are also reported in the Boothbay area. This is a total of 55 wrecks in the Sanctuary. This list is probably not complete.

The most recent wreck is the S.S. HART WILSON located on Bantam Rock. This was a steel-hulled, coastal freighter armed during World War II and sunk in 1941.

The earliest and perhaps most interesting wreck is the ANGEL GABRIEL, a ship from Bristol, England, which wrecked near Pemaquid in 1635. A search is in progress to locate this wreck which is believed be located in Johns Bay, just north of the Sanctuary boundary.

Sources for Shipwreck Information

Main source:
Robert Bradley - Maine State Museum

Other sources: Warren Reiss - personal communication Marty Brewer - personal communication Snow, E.R. 1944, Great Storms and Famous Shipwrecks of the New England Coast. Yankee Publ. Co., Boston.

5. Recreational Activity
This region is one of the more important recreational areas along The complex and pristine coast with its multitude of rlvers, harbors, coves and islands provides the opportunity for sailing and boating pleasure. The increased level of these activities, together with the tourism they support greatly multiply winter population densities and constitute an important and unique facet of this region.

6. Historic Data Deficiencies
Offshore underwater work should be done off Damariscove Island to learn more of the 17th century fishing settlement. More survey work should be done there by archaeologists. Fish remains will be sought to determine the seasonality of the fishing operations (Alaric Faulkner).

Archaeological work should also be done on the other islands around Damariscove. There is good reason to believe evidence of other settlements will be found (Robert Bradley). Further work may turn up 16th century artifacts, most likely on the outer islands. These could be from seasonal activity which strayed south to Maine or there could also be more substantial sites. (David Sanger, 1979)

Many of the shipwrecks remain to be located.

V. DESCRIPTION OF SITE USES
With the exception of relatively small inner harbor areas, this site is essentially pristine and that condition is likely to continue with the establishment of a Marine Sanctuary, The population size has not expanded in recent years and the uses of these waters have remained essentially unchanged.

Adjacent land regions support residental housing but the population density is on the average, very low. The discharge of domestic sewage from houses has been one of the largest pollutant sources, but is decreasing due to laws requiring sewage treatment. Because of the low number of people, large area encompassed, and strong tidal currents, effluents are rapidly dispersed. Low levels of agricultural development would also be expected to contribute no significant amounts of pollutant runoff.

The major uses of these waters are fishing and recreation. Commercial fishing is particularly active and of vital importance to many citizens and the region a~ a whole. Lobstering; clamming, worming, aquaculture, seining, otter trawling, and other types of fin fishing provide high levels of revenue and do much to support the tourist industry which is highly developed in this region. Sport fishing is similarly important to resident and tourist alike. While low water

temperatures throughout much of the year and the absence of large sandy beaches discourage heavy beach use for swimming, both sailing and motor boating are very popular activities and represent important uses.

There are no large industries in this area which would be of significance to the establishment of a marine sanctuary. Shipbuilding is one of the largest industries, but does not produce large pollutant loads. Other industries such as fish processing plants, machine shops and lumbering activities also have negligible pollutant impacts in marine areas.

No large industries are expected to be sited here and this level of industrial activity will apparently remain at a low and constant level if a sanctuary is established.

VI. IMPACT OF HUMAN USES ON SITE

As previously stated, the present uses of this site do not interfere in any major way with the chemical, physical or biological regimes in this region. Only small coves or harbor areas which are heavily used accumulate significant levels of domestic sewage, agricultural runoff, industrial pollution or other contaminants. The region as a whole is quite undisturbed.

Low levels of domestic sewage introduce minor amounts of toxic chemicals, nutrients, organic matter, heavy metals, human pathogens and coliform bacteria. Agricultural runoff yields small amounts of nutrient matter and pesticides. Industrial pollutants include minute inputs of iron, heavy metals and oil to coastal waters, in addition to sewage. Again, it must be emphasized that the accepting bodies of water are large and well mixed and therefore do not allow large concentrations of pollutants to be accumulated under existing conditions.

VII. EFFECT OF SANCTUARY ON SITE

The establishment of a marine sanctuary at the proposed site will benefit the site and region in which it is located in several major ways. A general effect will be the stimulation of scientific and educational activities which will benefit these disciplines, and lead to a better understanding and operation of fisheries. Ultimately, wise conservation practices to safeguard the coastal zone will be fostered.

The creation of a marine sanctuary will tend to concentrate a higher level of scientific activity in one region which will promote more correlative results between physical, chemical and biological oceanographers who are involved with resource management. This would be expected to lead to more cooperative work and greater benefit to management, fisheries and science. Presently, the selection of research sites for scientific investigations is based primarily upon the nature of the work undertaken. The designation of a large Marine Sanctuary area should create a situation in which there will be a greater impetus to do work in the sanctuary area when possible.

Fishermen will also enjoy the protection of their fishing grounds from major man-induced disturbances which could reduce their catch.

Here it must be recognized that fisheries management in the sanctuary area will fall under the same local, state and federal regulations that presently exist. No new fisheries regulations will be imposed as the result of marine sanctuary designation. Fisheries activity must be allowed to proceed and expand where the opportunities exist. Fishing and the industries they support are vital to the region and must not be diminished.

In a similar way, educational activities, when concentrated in a single region, will be advanced due to focused scientific efforts and other educational programs. The Department of Marine Resources, the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the University of Maine, and the Ira C. Darling Center already commit time towards educational efforts and those activities are likely to be advanced. The increased educational activity will also provide the framework within which historic sites and events will be studied and better appreciated.

The increased levels of activity and coordination in both the scientific and educational sectors will ultimately be of benefit to the fishing community. Resulting knowledge should enable fishermen to find answers to some of their problems and new productive fisheries may be identified. The greater levels of scientific activity should also be reflected in the establishment of better biologital and chemical baselines or reference points with which to evaluate potential pollution problems.

Some, perhaps more limited interests, may not be allowed to follow through with plans that could have major detrimental effects within the sanctuary area. Activities resulting in major chemical or oil discharges, excavations, or dumpings that would be considered to be threats to coastal zone functioning and resources would be discouraged.

The coastal zone of Maine has many and varied uses, some of which may conflict. How should development, industrial, recreational and fishing interests be balanced to provide the maximum use and benefit to the people of Maine? A better scientific understanding of natural resources, and those factors that threaten them, combined with increased public awareness through educational efforts are perhaps the best ways to ensure that coastal areas are managed for long term national benefit.

This will be the ultimate benefit of the proposed Marine Sanctuary designation in Maine.

VIII. USES OF ADJACENT AREAS
Areas adjacent to the proposed sanctuary site are used in ways similar to that described for the site itself. Residential living, commercial fishing, recreation, tourism and small industries constitute the major activities. While the regions adjacent to the sanctuary support the oil terminal in Casco Bay, the Maine Yankee nuclear power station near Wiscasset and an industrial dump site off Casco Bay, none of these activities offer substantial pollutant loads to the sanctuary site.

The dilution and dispersion of effluents is sufficient to prevent any significant entry into site waters. While plumes of effluent materials are expected to enter the site from these and possibly other sources these will be transient and very localized within the site. Due to the large area of the site selected, it should also be possible to select many specific regions within the sanctuary which would be essentially pristine in nature.

The presence of a nuclear power plant, an oil pipeline and an industrial dump site in waters adjacent to the sanctuary is deemed to be of benefit to one of the functions of the sanctuary. The location of a relatively pristine sanctuary area in the vicinity of such activities allows the sanctuary to serve as a real "reference" or "control" area for baseline measurements to evaluate pollutant loads in nearby, similar waters.

IX. SANCTUARY MANAGEMENT
The State of Maine Department of Marine Resources has offered to manage the Marine Sanctuary. This agency is presently responsible for investigating and managing the marine resources of Maine. As such, it is the logical entity to manage the sanctuary.

The sanctuary area will be managed for the benefit of those using this area and for the people of Maine in general. Management activities will not be allowed to impede fishing activity or development of the region. Only those activities that would have major detrimental effects would be discouraged. The large scale dumping of waste or dredge spoil, for instance, would not be allowed. Any major drilling, mining or dredging should have to have approval of Sanctuary management.

Finally, the construction of oil refineries and nuclear power plants would be prohibited. All of these activities should be regulated by the management agency. One goal of management would be to discourage any activity whose type and scale would do major harm to the resources of the sanctuary region.

It is, however, our intent that the regulatory role of management be minimized. No management agency should be allowed to further restrict the type of activities;that are a part of the sanctuary area.

To our knowledge, no serious.plans exist for the establishment of any activity which would be prohibited or discouraged by the management of the Marine Sanctuary. It is not the design or purpose of the managing agency to manage or regulate all activity within the sanctuary area, but only to exclude major, potentially harmful activities.

The major roles of marine sanctuary management will be to aid scientific and educational development; protect marine resources; improve management decision-making; and foster the wise, compatible uses of the area. It is anticipated that management and research funds for the sanctuary area will act as a catalyst for expanded and better coordinated research and educational activities. Such efforts must be used to create an improved public awareness of the sanctuary, its resources and its uses. In essence, it is the ultimate goal that such public awareness and the pressures it brings to bear will be the most important management tool to maintain the sanctuary.

This site is relatively pristine, but that condition may not continue without effort. The region has great value and has many uses and resources. Such a situation will result in great demands being made upon this location in future years. The designation of this site as a marine sanctuary will help to accomodate the preservation of marine resources in addition to the human uses and development of the site, and serve as an example for other communities to follow.

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