For much of my childhood I spent the summers, or a majority of them, at my grandparent’s camp in West Bath. We would fish, we would play, we would go for hikes in the woods. We also watched the goings on in the water. Small boats, large boats, air boats, everything came by. And twice a day there were people all over the cove digging for clams. They would talk and dig and smoke and dig. They were ever present. They helped keep the cove in front of the camp healthy because they were culling the flats.

I have thought about those lazy summers and those clam flats a great deal over the last couple of months. Long Cove is but a fraction of the size of Maquoit Bay, but I can appreciate the idea that the waters that surround our shoreline are for everyone. Never did I have the mindset that we should demand that someone else, who is using the same waters or clam flats, stop doing what they are doing. Maybe, I am in the minority.

You see, a plan has been submitted to substantially grow an existing oyster farm on Maquoit Bay. Never mind that the owners already have an oyster farm on the bay. Never mind that the proposed farm will be about 40 acres in an area that is between 3,000 and 4,000 acres. Never mind that the owners have a sustainable and green plan for the cultivation of the oysters. Never mind that the oysters will actually clean the water they are living in. No, this is simply about those around the bay having theirs and not wanting to share.

Maine has a long history with working waterfronts. Whether it has been shipbuilding or fishing or other uses, Mainer’s have always looked to the sea to provide a livelihood. The problem is that instead of working on the water some want to demand that only recreational uses are protected. Kayaking and swimming were named by one group as a desired use of the bay.

The plan that was submitted to the State of Maine calls for using somewhere around 1 percent of the overall acreage of the bay for the farm. One percent. Maquoit Bay, in terms of size, is roughly the same size as all of Brunswick Landing. The former Naval Air Station.

Could you pick out a 40-acre parcel on Brunswick Landing and declare it to be too large? Too much of an interference with activity at the Landing? I could not.

The complaints by neighbors are the same. We have heard before from others who claim that they want to share the bay but then throw roadblocks up. Remember the parcel of land on Mere Point some time ago? Some of the neighbors were all for people owning part of shoreline as long as the property owners did exactly what they wanted them to do with the property. In this case the landowners, who are the most vocal against the farm, claim they support the use of the waters of the bay. The users of the bay just have to fit within the acceptable parameters of these neighbors.

The group that is fighting against the farm claim that not enough was done to study the bay and what the farm could do to it. They wanted a multiyear experimental lease to perform those studies. This group must watch too many town council and school board meetings. Everything is a study and no study can be done quickly.

The owners of the farm are investing in this endeavor and working to make the waters of Maquoit Bay a little better for both the human user and the wildlife that share it. Barring any real problem this application for the lease should sail through the process. To deny it because of a few people who would not be happy with any use that is outside of their narrow view would be a shame.

It is time that we open up the pearl that is Maquoit Bay.

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_crimmins@hotmail.com