U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) have reintroduced the Working Waterfronts Act, legislation that would provide several sources of financial support to the nation's commercial fishing sector and the coastal businesses that support it.
“Maine’s coastal communities are changing. From a warming climate to an evolving economy, the Gulf of Maine faces both historic opportunities and challenges that will define our state’s success for generations,” King said in a statement. “The Working Waterfronts Act would provide Maine’s working waterfronts up and down the coast with the necessary financial, energy, and infrastructure resources to adapt to the rapidly shifting dynamics of natural disasters affecting economic and tourism operations. It would also help support the necessary workforce to sustain our coastal businesses.”
If passed, the legislation would create tax credits for hydroelectric projects, a pilot program to help fishing vessels transition to alternative fuels, a competitive grant program supporting cold storage, cooperative processing and seaweed-processing facilities, and a maritime workforce grant program. The bill would also create an interagency working group to map out the nation’s vegetated coastal and Great Lakes ecosystem and provide resources to tackle invasive species.
The Senate bill also includes provisions from other pieces of legislation that lawmakers have sought to pass in recent years, including the Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act, the Fishing Industry Safety, Health, and Wellness Improvement (FISH Wellness) Act, the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act, and the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act.
“The Working Waterfront Act supports and expands access to critical infrastructure and resources upon which the seafood industry relies. Specific to seafood harvesting and processing, the Working Waterfront Act incentivizes co-investment by providing access to [U.S. Department of Agriculture] loan programs which will help American fishermen and processors compete with other countries – an excellent example of good domestic economic policy,” Pacific Seafood Processors Association President Julie Decker said in a statement.
The legislation was previously introduced in February 2024 but didn’t gain momentum before the end of the last Congress.
The bill would also provide grant funding for infrastructure improvements that suppor commercial and recreational fishermen, mariculturists, and the boatbuilding industry. In the House, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) has introduced similar legislation in the Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act. If passed, the bill would establish a grant program and preservation loan fund to support the preservation of working waterfronts and would also create a Working Waterfronts Task Force within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“Across the country, our working waterfronts are rapidly disappearing, including right here in Maine, where only about 20 miles of my state’s 5,000 miles of coastline are still dedicated to ocean commerce,” Pingree said when the bill was introduced in March. “Between increasing development pressures and the significant threats posed by climate change – as we experienced firsthand during last year’s unprecedented winter storms – America’s coastal communities are struggling to hang on. Our goal with this legislation is to bring real, lasting investments to our country’s working waterfronts: protecting jobs, strengthening infrastructure, improving public access, and encouraging greater climate resiliency.”
Pingree has pushed for the legislation across multiple sessions of Congresses, first introducing a bill in 2009.
