Downeast Harborside

In the small fishing village of Corea, generations of lobstermen confront the changing face of a working waterfront

From a harbor at the edge of Gouldsboro, generations of families have made a living catching lobster. Corea has a picturesque waterfront, but unlike the well-visited Mount Desert Island to the east, the harbor here is filled with boats for fishing, not pleasure. However, in the 40 years that photographer Cheryl Clegg has been visiting Corea, she’s seen more and more of the houses near the harbor being bought as summer homes by people “from away.” It’s becoming harder for those working on the waterfront to live as close to the harbor, she says. Clegg first visited the community as a teenager and now brings her family here each summer. For the past several years, she has been documenting the working harbor and the fishermen who have been a part of the lobster-fishing community for generations. “It’s such a part of Maine,” Clegg says. “You go out to eat and you get your lobster, but you have no idea how it’s really been caught.”