Downeast Fisheries Trail
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Prospect Harbor

Route 186, Gouldsboro

The eastern gateway to the Schoodic National Scenic Byway is located next to the Gouldsboro Town Office and the Community Center. The gateway facility features interpretive signs, and a child-friendly scale model of the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse. The Byway passes the sardine cannery in Prospect Harbor, the last sardine cannery operating in the US before it closed in 2010. Dozens of sardine packing plants once anchored the coast of Maine. Declines in the native sardine species, Atlantic herring, changes in fishing regulations, and evolving global markets all contributed to the demise of the American sardine industry. The Prospect Harbor cannery re-opened as a lobster processing plant, and the harbor itself continues its role as a popular place to moor lobster and other fishing boats and unload the day’s catch. Prospect Harbor Light, seen from the village but not open for tours, was commissioned by George Washington, proof of this area’s historic importance for marine uses.

207.667.7131 | http://www.schoodicbyway.org/

Year-round. Parking. Restrooms. Interpretive signs.

Prospect Harbor
Former Stinson Sardine Factory
Former Stinson Sardine Factory
Stinson Sardine Man
Lobster Man
Maine Fair Trade Lobster
Lobster Man statue
Stinson Sardine Cannery Workers
Sardine cans
Thawing herring
Sardine cans stacked
Empty warehouse
Packing sardine boxes
Sardine Factory at Prospect Harbor
Sardine Factory at Prospect Harbor
Sardine Factory at Prospect Harbor 1890
65’ dragger ALTHEA JOY
Lobster boat overhaul
the CALVIN L. STINSON
Prospect Harbor
12►

Fisheries Heritage

From Lobster Smacks to Lobster Pounds (Prospect Harbor is site to one of the state’s first lobster pounds, read more here…)

Sources & Links

Schoodic National Scenic Byway 

In Maine, Last Sardine Cannery in the U.S. Is Clattering Out. April 3, 2010.  New York Times. 

Last Sardine Cannery Closes Down, YouTube Video 

NOOA Voices from the Fisheries, Interview with Arlene Hartford about her experiences working at the Prospect Harbor Cannery.  (Interviewer Patricia Pinto da Silva). 
Interview with Arlene Hartford PDF 

How lobster consumed herring, a great little history of the transition from a sardine economy to a lobster economy in Maine, with special focus on Prospect Harbor. 

Prospect Harbor Lighthouse information 

Dorcas Library in Prospect Harbor 

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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