At the beginning of the Holocene epoch 11,000 years ago, the Gulf of Maine's sea level fell as low as 180 feet (55 m) below its present height. Penobscot Bay was then a continuation of Penobscot River that meandered through a broad lowland extending past present day Matinicus Island.[1][2]
Penobscot Bay and its chief tributary, the Penobscot River, are named for the Penobscot Indian Nation, which has continuously inhabited the area for more than ten thousand years, fishing, hunting and shellfish gathering in and around the bay and river. A part of the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Penobscot Indian Nation's present reservation includes Indian Island, north of Orono, Maine, and all the islands of Penobscot River above it. Ancient remains of their campsites dating back millennia have been found on the bay's shores and islands.[3]
The bay was the site of a humiliating American defeat during the Revolutionary War. In 1779 a Continental Navy flotilla consisting of 19 warships and 25 support vessels was dispatched on July 24 to recapture the mid-coast of Maine from the British who had captured part of the territory and constructed fortifications near the bay, naming the newly captured territory New Ireland. The American besiegers became stalled in their assaults due to dissension between Solomon Lovell and Dudley Saltonstall, two of the expedition's commanders, and after a British flotilla led by George Collier arrived on August 13, the American fleet fled, beaching and burning their ships in the face of a superior British force. All 44 ships were either destroyed or captured, in what proved to be America's worst naval defeat until Pearl Harbor, 162 years later.[4]
There are many islands in this bay and on them are some of the country's most well-known summer colonies.
Conservation issues
Historic Water Pollution Management. Penobscot Bay has been the receiving waters for sewage waste and industrial waste discharges from bay and river towns since the 19th century. Discharge treatment was primarily dilution until the mid 20th century when the federal government began requiring communities and businesses of all states to meet water pollution control standards.
Beginning with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, where states were requested to evolve and enforce their own standards, federal water pollution regulation evolved in 1970 to require that any project requiring a federal permit must be certified to meet state standards, then expanded in 1972 to require projects to meet a host of federal standards. The law is now known as the Clean Water Act of 1972.
On June 28, 1966, the State of Maine's Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries, Ronald W. Green, ordered closure of the shellfish beds in the waters of Searsport and Stockton Springs, in upper Penobscot Bay, "due to the polluted condition of the water."
The US Department of the Interior's Water Pollution Control Administration and the US Public Health Service then conducted a joint investigation of the lower Penobscot River and upper Penobscot Bay "to determine the sources of this pollution, the direction of travel of this pollution and the degree of economic injury involved."
According to the report,"substantial economic injury results from the inability to market shellfish or shellfish products in interstate commerce because of pollution caused by sewage and industrial wastes discharged to the Penobscot River and upper Penobscot Bay area and action of state authorities." The WPCA noted that "accordingly the pollution of these navigable waters is subject to abatement under procedures described in Section 10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended"
The WPCA report recommended specific water quality requirements for these pollution dischargers, and concluded if the identified pollution sources improved their waste treatment practices, the waters of the upper Penobscot Bay communities of Northport, Searsport, Stockton Springs, Penobscot, Castine, Islesboro and Belfast would again be available for commercial and recreational fishing, swimming, pleasure boating, industrial processing and cooling water, wildlife and navigation.
In 1847 Captain Oakes purchased the smack Josephine, with which he began running to Johnson & Young's establishment, at Boston, in 1848, buying a portion of his lobsters in the Penobscot Bay region, where this fishery had just been started. The quantity of lobsters carried by him that year was 40,000.... Lobsters were so abundant at the Muscle Ridges, at this period, that four men could fully supply Captain Oakes with lobsters every trip. In the course of ten days each man would obtain between 1,200 and 1,500 marketable lobsters. In Captain Oakes' opinion, the Muscle Ridges have furnished the most extensive lobster fishery of the Maine coast. He ran to this locality until 1874.
Capt. S. S. Davis, of South Saint George, states that about 1864, when he first began buying lobsters at the Muscle Ridges, three men, tending 40 to 50 pots each, caught all the count lobsters he could carry to market in his smack. He could load 5,000 lobsters at a time, and averaged a trip in 7 to 9 days. This traffic continued for six or seven years. In 1879, Captain Davis bought from 15 men In the same locality, and at times was obliged to buy also of others in order to make up a load.
The fishery at North Haven began in 1848, but did not increase so rapidly at first as in sections farther west, as the smacks would only take the medium-sized lobsters, fearing that the largest would not be able to stand the trip. At Matinicus Island the fishing began in 1868. In 1852 the people on Deer Island began the fishery, and as the smackmen made frequent visits the business rapidly increased. The establishment of a cannery at Oceanville, about 1860, also caused a considerable development of the fishery. The fishery was started at Isle Au Haute about 1855, and at Swan Island in the early fifties.
A 180° panorama of the Penobscot Bay from near the Belfast/Searsport town line looking SE. Belfast Bay is to the right, Northport on the peninsula, Islesboro on the center horizon, Castine to the left of that, and toward Stockton Springs and the entrance to the Penobscot River are beyond the trees on the far left.
Godfrey, John E. "The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek" as transcribed from The HISTORICAL MAGAZINE and Notes and Queries concerning The Antiquities, History, and Biography of America. (Third Series, Vol. I, No. II; Whole Number, Vol. XXI, No. II) February, 1872. (Morrisina, N.Y., Henry B. Dawson) pp.85–92 (illustrated & annotated)
Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,478. Its county seat is Ellsworth. The county was incorporated on June 25, 1789, and named for John Hancock, the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Stonington is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. It is located on the southern portion of the island of Deer Isle. The population was 1,056 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Burnt Cove, Oceanville, Green Head, and Clam City. A picturesque working waterfront and tranquil tourist destination in eastern Penobscot Bay, Stonington has consistently ranked among the top lobster ports in the country and is the largest lobster port in Maine. In 2011, 14,854,989 pounds of lobster were landed by Stonington fishermen, with a value of $46.3 million.
Isle au Haut is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States, on an island of the same name in Penobscot Bay. The population was 92 at the 2020 census. Home to portions of Acadia National Park, Isle au Haut is accessible by ferry from Stonington. The 6 mile ride takes about 45 minutes.
Matinicus Isle is an island plantation in Knox County, Maine, United States. The island is located within Penobscot Bay about 20 miles east of the mainland coast and is accessible by state ferry service from Rockland or by air taxi from Knox County Regional Airport. Matinicus is the farthest inhabited land off the east coast into the Atlantic Ocean which is part of the United States. The plantation is both a year-round island community and a summer colony. The population was 53 at the 2020 census.
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay and Penobscot Bay. Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County. Its seaport has a wealth of historic architecture in several historic districts, and remains popular with tourists.
Criehaven is an alternative name for Ragged Island, an unorganized territory in Knox County, Maine, United States. Criehaven was formerly a plantation including Ragged Island just south of Matinicus Isle in outer Penobscot Bay, plus Matinicus Rock to its southeast, and Seal Island, the location of Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, to its northeast. Criehaven surrendered its organization and reverted to an unorganized territory in 1925, but the name persists.
The Blackstone River in the United States is a river that flows through Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is 48 mi (77 km) long with a drainage area of 475 mi2. It drains into the Pawtucket River at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its long history of industrial use in the watershed has caused significant pollution, with the United States Environmental Protection Agency describing it as “the most polluted river in the country because of high concentrations of toxic sediments.”
The Penobscot River is a 109-mile-long (175 km) river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to 264 miles (425 km), making it the second-longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains 8,610 square miles (22,300 km2).
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. The gulf includes the entire coastlines of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine, as well as Massachusetts north of Cape Cod, and the southern and western coastlines of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, respectively.
Sears Island, known as Wassumkeag or shining beach by the indigenous Wabanaki tribes of northern New England, is located off the coast of Searsport in Waldo County, Maine, at the top of Penobscot Bay. The island is the largest undeveloped, uninhabited, causeway-accessible island on the eastern coast of the United States. It is 940 acres (3.8 km2) in area. It is part of the Town of Searsport.
Penobscot Island Air is a small regional airline based at Knox County Regional Airport, Maine, United States (RKD) operating from a private terminal. The airline operates scheduled service to the islands in Maine's Penobscot Bay and offers private charter land and seaplane flights throughout the region.
The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT, is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure in the state of Maine. An exception is the Maine Turnpike, which is maintained by the Maine Turnpike Authority. MaineDOT reports on the adequacy of roads, highways, and bridges in Maine. It also monitors environmental factors that affect the motor public such as stormwater, ice/snow buildup on roads, and crashes with moose. MaineDOT was founded in 1972 and replaced the former Maine State Highway Commission.
The North Cape oil spill took place on January 19, 1996, when the tank barge North Cape and the tug Scandia grounded on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, after the tug caught fire in its engine room during a winter storm. An estimated 828,000 US gallons (3,130 m3) of home heating oil was spilled. Oil spread throughout a large area of Block Island Sound, including Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, resulting in the closure of a 250-square-mile (650 km2) area of the sound for fishing.
Deer Isle Thorofare Light, also known as Mark Island Light, is a lighthouse on Penobscot Bay, Maine, about 1.8 nautical miles west-southwest of Stonington. It was built in 1857.
Deer Isle is an island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. There are two communities on the island, Deer Isle and Stonington. It is on the eastern side of Penobscot Bay, connected by road to the Maine mainland through Little Deer Isle. Its only vehicular connection to the mainland is State Route 15 over Deer Isle Bridge.
Searsport is an incorporated town and deep water seaport located at the confluence of the Penobscot River estuary and the Penobscot Bay immediately northwest of Sears Island and Cape Jellison in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,649 at the 2020 census. Searsport includes the village of North Searsport. The town is known as "the home of the famous sea captains" and the "Antique Capital of Maine".
Abigail P. W. Barrows is an American marine research scientist and advocate based in Maine. Barrows directs microplastics research that is used to inform conservation-focused legislation, and she initiated the first baseline data map of microplastic pollution distribution in the waters off the coast of Maine.
Genevieve Kurilec McDonald is an American Democratic politician, lobster boat captain, and fisheries advocate from Maine. In 2018, she was the first female commercial fisherman to be elected to the Maine House of Representatives. McDonald represented House District #134: Cranberry Isles, Deer Isle, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, North Haven, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Swan's Island, Tremont, Vinalhaven, and Marshall Island. In 2013, she successfully led a social media campaign to prompt fishing gear producer Grundéns to produce commercial fishing gear for women. In June 2014, McDonald became the first woman to serve on the Maine Department of Marine Resources Lobster Advisory Council (LAC). McDonald resigned her House seat effective on May 10, 2022, the day after the last Legislative Day of the Second Regular Session of the 130th Maine Legislature.
Cape Rosier is a cape on the south central coast of the U.S. state of Maine, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. The peninsula reaches south and westward from the mainland into Penobscot Bay. It constitutes the western part of the town of Brooksville, in Hancock County, cut off from the rest of the town at a narrow neck where Orcutt Harbor extends from Eggemoggin Reach northward, and nearly reaches Smith Cove on the north side of the cape. To the west, it forms a part of the estuary of the Penobscot River. The head of the cape is at 44°18'43.2"N 68°49'36.6"W.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
