Sue Hawkes' family ties to Cundy's Harbor "go back a few years." Her husband, 56-year-old Gary Hawkes, has been lobstering out of Cundy's Harbor since he was a teenager. And Sue's great-grandfather fished out of the harbor in the late 1800s. Their two sons are also lobstermen, and she runs Hawkes Lobster Pound.

When talk of change surfaces, the family is reluctant to embrace it. They like the harbor the way it is, with its weather-beaten lobster boats and creaky wharves.

"It's a neat place. The real deal," Sue Hawkes said of the fishing village and Holbrook's Wharf. "Nothing is put on. It's a working village with no glitz. It's an original."

That's why the Hawkeses and their neighbors have teamed with a national land conservation organization, The Trust for Public Lands, in an effort to preserve Holbrook's Wharf as working waterfront. The three-quarters of an acre parcel of oceanfront land and buildings is threatened by development pressures.

Holbrook's Wharf overlooks the New Meadows River and Sebasco, a village in Phippsburg. It consists of a working wharf where tuna and lobster fishermen unload their catches.

Its owners say they need to sell the property for financial reasons. Residents fear it could be converted into an oceanfront house, eliminating public access for fishermen and boaters.

Wolf Tone, who has been working on the project on behalf of the trust, said the nonprofit organization has negotiated an agreement to purchase the property. If the trust can acquire the site and find a permanent operator, it will be preserved in its current state.

Tone is not certain who will own the property or how funds will be raised. But it could be similar to an arrangement in York where in 2003 two York lobstermen purchased Sewall's Bridge dock and preserved it as working waterfront. The lobstermen, in conjunction with the York Land Trust, raised $710,000, a deal that included a provision for a conservation easement that protected the dock from development.

The selling price for Holbrook's Wharf is about $1.2 million, and the Trust for Public Lands has until the end of June to finalize the sale. Tone said the trust's role is to negotiate large and sometimes complex real estate transactions to keep properties off the market, giving communities the time they need to raise funds. The trust will not take long-term ownership.

Holbrook's Wharf is owned by two businessmen from Massachusetts, Robert Fitzpatrick and Ed Handel. Fitzpatrick, a national fish broker, says he would prefer the wharf, which has been on the market since 2001, remain as working waterfront.

"The trophy house thing. That's what it's ripe for," said Fitzpatrick, who expects the pending deal will give him wharf space to run fishing boats in and out of Cundy's Harbor. "But it makes more sense to preserve it as working waterfront. It could be a win- win situation for everyone."

Financial help may be on the way for Holbrook and other working waterfronts.

Rep. Leila Jane Percy, D-Phippsburg, is sponsoring a bond package that would create a $15 million fund. The so-called surf and turf bond - an additional $15 million would be set aside to protect farmlands - would provide matching grants to fishermen to help them purchase working waterfront properties.

The bill has generated bipartisan support, attracting more than 70 co-sponsors from both parties, but has yet to be approved by the Legislature. The bond would likely be presented to voters at a statewide referendum in November.

"If we don't set something up now, it will all be gone," Percy said. "When a wharf comes up for sale, a developer can buy it and convert into condos or a house. It's lost forever."

Financial aid could help a town like Harpswell, which is reliant on its fishing industry. Town Planner Jay Chace said there are more than 500 commercially licensed fishermen among Harpswell's 5,200 year-round residents.

A fishing industry study commissioned by the town said about $10 million worth of fish are landed each year in Harpswell. That figure grows to $14 million when you add Harpswell-based fishermen who bring their catches to other ports, such as Portland.

Chace said the town supports efforts to preserve Holbrook's Wharf, but that it's doubtful the town would be interested in managing the property.

"If they can keep it open to the public and to the fishermen then it can bring certain vibrancy to that area," he said.

The Trufant House, built around 1850, sits on a hill overlooking the wharf and harbor. Two apartments generate rental income. Holbrook's General Store, which opened in 1898, is opened occasionally during the summer. Boaters and tourists can dine at Holbrook's Wharf and Snack Bar.

"All of these activities are occurring on this little parcel of land," Tone said. "It's a real melting pot for the fishermen and for the residents."

Linda Prybylo and her husband, Jay, sold their home in Massachusetts and moved into a home across the street from Holbrook's Wharf six years ago. At first, being outsiders, they were concerned about whether the community would welcome them.

"When we moved in we were welcomed with open arms because everyone knew our lights were going to stay on in the winter," Prybylo said. Harpswell's population nearly doubles, to more than 10,000, during the summer.

Prybylo, director of Topsham's Public Library, is one of several residents who have been working with the trust to preserve Holbrook's Wharf. She would especially like to see Holbrook's Store reopen on a full-time basis.

"Cundy's Harbor is really a fishing village, one of those rare spots that haven't changed," she said.

Last year, Jeremy Saxton took over operation of the restaurant. He rents the space from Fitzpatrick and Handel.

"I'd love to keep the status quo. I've always asked: `How can we not want to preserve that,' " Saxton said, pointing out a rear window of Holbrook's General Store at the scenic harbor.

For Gary Hawkes, who has fished here for most of his life and met his wife at the snack bar, the issue of protecting the working waterfront is critical to his livelihood.

He said construction of a house on the waterfront would mean more nitrogen in the harbor, which would drive lobsters farther offshore.

"I'd like to see it stay the way it is," Hawkes said.

(C) 2005 Portland Press Herald. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

Maine fishing port faces extinction