Downeast Fisheries Trail
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Bucksport Waterfront

Main Street (Route 15), Bucksport

A former landing site for mackerel, cod, and other fish, the Bucksport waterfront features a paved walking trail, public fishing pier, public boat ramps, marina, and views of historic Fort Knox, built in 1844 to defend against the British during border disputes. Charter boats may be available for striped bass and other sportfishing. Historic films of Maine fisheries are occasionally on view at the restored Alamo Theater.

207.469.7368 | www.bucksportmaine.gov/

Year-round. Parking. Restrooms. Accessible. Water Access. Interpretive sign.

 

Historical Bucksport Waterfront
Penobescot River Weirs 1873
Smelt
Bucksport interpretive kiosk
Tannery-Brook
Bucksport waterfront park area
Bucksport waterfront park
Bucksport waterfront path
Bucksport waterfront path
Bucksport waterfront park
“Before the Wind”
Fortunate Sun
Bucksport marina
Recreational boats at Bucksport
Picnic Point
Monument at Bucksport waterfront

 

Poster: A port with a fishing past

Bucksport poster icon copyThis Downeast Fisheries Trail poster, part of the Bucksport waterfront informational kiosk, was created by Maine Sea Grant and  NOAA Fisheries to illustrate the fisheries history of Bucksport.

Fisheries Heritage

While now Penobscot Bay is a lobstering hotspot, in the 1800s groundfish like cod were landed here in plenty. In his survey of United States fisheries, George Brown Goode of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries found that in 1825, about 20 vessels landed a total 4.4 million pounds of cod and other groundfish at Bucksport. Most of the vessels went to ‘the Bay’ for mackerel after their return from the Grand Banks. Professional curers at Orland dried the fish and shipped it to the Boston market. The vessel fisheries employed about 150 men in Orland and Bucksport; many others worked the shorelines.

Vestiges of the wharves can still be seen from the waterfront. Premier among these were the warehouses and packing sheds of Captain Thomas Nicholson, who in his time madeBucksport famed as the largest fishing port on the Atlantic coast. Nicholson’s schooners, loaded with hundreds of thousands of pounds of fish from the Grand Banks, came up through Penobscot Narrows to admiring and cheering crowds. A load of 625,000 pounds of fish in 1898 was reported to be a record cargo. Nicholson, son of a Scottish immigrant fisherman, became the biggest single supplier of salted cod on the Atlantic coast.

Ongoing efforts to restore sea-run fishes, an integral component of coastal ecosystems, hold promise to bring back the cod that once preyed upon them. www.penobscotriver.org

Sources & Links

Arthur M. Joost, Jr.. 1992. “Shipbuilding and shipping in Bucksport,” pp. 10-23 in 200 Years and Counting the Story of Bucksport (Bucksport Bicentennial Committee). Belfast, ME: J.A. Black Co.

Port Harbor Marine 

Northeast Historic Film 

Bucksport Historical Society 

Buck Memorial Library 

 Maine Folklife Center interview with Bucksport Captain Frank Delano about fishing on the Grand Banks.

Maine Folklife Center Penobscot River Commercial Fisheries Project 

Trail Sites

  • Abbe Museum
  • Bad Little Falls Park
  • Bar Harbor Town Park
  • Bar Harbor Town Pier
  • Beals Heritage Center
  • Bucksport Waterfront
  • Cable Pool Park
  • Carryingplace Cove
  • Cobscook Bay Resource Center
  • Cobscook Bay State Park
  • Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery
  • Deer Isle – Stonington Historical Society
  • Downeast Institute
  • Frazer Point
  • Frenchman Bay Overlook
  • Frenchman Bay Scenic Turnout
  • Gleason Cove Park
  • Gordon’s Wharf
  • Great Harbor Maritime Museum
  • Green Lake National Fish Hatchery
  • Henry Cove
  • Islesford Historical Museum
  • Jonesport Historical Society
  • Long Cove
  • Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (formerly Penobscot East Resource Center)
  • Maine Coast Sardine History Museum
  • McCurdy’s Smokehouse
  • Milbridge Historical Museum
  • Milbridge Town Marina
  • Morong Cove
  • Mount Desert Oceanarium
  • Naskeag Point
  • Otter Cove
  • Penobscot Marine Museum
  • Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory & Fort Knox
  • Peter Gray Hatchery
  • Pleasant River Hatchery
  • Prospect Harbor
  • Quoddy Head State Park
  • Roosevelt-Campobello International Park
  • Shackford Head State Park
  • Somesville Mill Pond
  • Taunton Bay Gateway
  • Tidal Falls
  • Waponahki Museum & Resource Center

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The Downeast Fisheries Trail consists of 45 locations from Penobscot Bay, Maine, to Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, that showcase active and historic fisheries heritage sites, such as fish hatcheries, aquaculture facilities, fishing harbors, clam flats, processing plants, historical societies, community centers, parks, and other related places. The Trail is an effort to raise awareness among residents and visitors of the importance of the region’s maritime heritage and the role of marine resources to the area’s economy. The Trail builds on these local resources to strengthen community life and the experience of visitors.

For a printed map-brochure of the Trail, please call 207.581.1435.

Download the web version of the map-brochure. (6.8 MB)

For more information about the Downeast Fisheries Trail, email or call 207.288.2944 x5834.

Downeast Fisheries Trail Brochure Map - Web Version

Downeast Fisheries Trail Brochure Map - Web Version

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