Stott Carleton Stott Carleton hauls his traps as he talks to observers of his concerns about the gasification plant and his love for the Sheepscot and Back River. (Photo Barbara Martin)

Stott Carleton lobsters for a living. He lives in Edgecomb, is a founding member of the North End Lobster Co-op; loves his family, the mid-coast and the Sheepscot River.

Last week, Carleton offered to take on some extra stowage - several interested observers joined him as he hauled traps. He invited these burdensome deckhands to view and compare his picture of Twin River Energy Center's proposed gasification plant with the claims that the company has made since it was first announced in July.

"The best way to be passionate about saving this river is to come out and see it," Carleton said. "I'll do anything to keep this beauty for my children."

As Carleton pulled traps with the help of his black lab, Boots, he presented the fisherman's perspective on the controversy.

"Every lobsterman knows what it would mean to bring 20 to 30 barges a week up this river," Carleton said. He explained that at times the current in the river runs between four and five knots. To maintain steerage, a loaded barge would have to keep the speed up. The resulting wake from the barge would rise to four and one-half to five feet at a minimum. The wake that flows behind his 28-foot lobster boat is only one to one and one-half feet.

In his opinion, a wake created by a vessel the size of the barges described could destroy docks along the river and endanger working and pleasure boats. "A kayak wouldn't have a chance," he said.

He disputes statements made by promoters of the plant that they could build "lobster friendly barges." The zincs bolted to the hulls (to prevent electrolysis) protrude on these barges, and these, combined with the large propellers, would grab lines and drag pots which fill the channel of the river.

"Lobsters choose to live in the deepest part of the river - right where the barges would have to travel," he said.

He schooled us about the fisherman's fact that one of the most important areas in the river is located in Wiscasset Harbor where the lobsters go to mature and breed; where barges would have to cross daily, removing any possibility of working or preserving the location.

Carleton describes the scene in summer when there is a lobster pot buoy every five feet at a minimum through the channel. Because of the current and tides, many of the buoys marking the pots are dragged below surface at high tide, and cannot be seen.

When asked how the industry dealt with the oil barges that were brought upriver to Mason Station in Wiscasset during its period of operation, he explains that they came about five times per year with some of those trips during the deepest part of winter.

The lobstermen were given about ten days notice to pull their gear. It took around three days to set up again, but it was worth it to save their equipment. "I have about $50,000 in traps and my operation is small. No-one could sustain the loss of this kind of investment," he said.

He reached back to explain that before the development of the North End Co-op on Westport Island disputes about who should put traps where were common. Anyone has a right to trap where they like if they use their own registered colors and place their license number on their buoys.

He praises Dana Faulkingham with organizing the co-op that drew Sheepscot River lobstermen into one cohesive group. "He brought an industry to Wiscasset. There are over 50 people employed as a result of the co-op," he said. If the river becomes a "barge canal," as Carleton suggests it will if the plant is built, many co-op members would go out of business and conflicts would again arise.

"Any suggestion that lobsterman could fish the sides of the river is just smoke and mirrors," he said.

He bristles at recent suggestions that the lobstermen are being used by opponents of the plant. "We have made our own choices, as always. No one understands the ramifications of this plant as we do," he said.

Asked if he feels any regret that fishermen have not received the same kind of support over their long- standing fight to save the industry from restrictive federal guidelines, he compares his industry to any other.

"Every profession has to look out for itself and deal with certain struggles. This issue is not just about us. It is about the Maine way of life," he said. He asks that it not divide us but bring all midcoast communities together, including Wiscasset. "There's been enough division," he said.

"Lobstering has done what Twin River claims they will do. It has and will provide a future for clean jobs that are perfect for Maine," he said. He references the network of workers that lobstering supports -- sternmen, delivery truck drivers, repair businesses and tourism, where guests are often drawn to our shores to eat the bounty and enjoy the beauty.

Carleton traveled down the Sheepscot River seven miles from the Mason Station in Wiscasset Harbor, which he believes is the only place that coal barges could attempt to unload their cargo, to the Quarry Farm, noted on the charts as Quarry Point, area on the river. He names this part of the river as one of the many danger zones.

He also compares this seven-mile stretch to the one mile-fishing area surrounding Monhegan Island. Local lobstermen there recently won a battle before the State Supreme Court to restrict other lobstermen from fishing in that area. He believes their claim that losing exclusive rights to their local waters would have the same damaging impact on the North End Co-op members' ability to make a living.

"The river narrows from about 1,000 feet to 300-400 feet very quickly here. The effect on the water is dramatic." Turning back, he pointed out the area at Merrill Ledge where the barges would have to successfully navigate two 90-degree turns, back-to-back, with little room for error.

"This would be an accident waiting to happen," Carleton said. "This fragile jewel could not survive the damage of that kind of catastrophe."

The "tour" continued up the Back River. Here the rocks that he claims to have been personally introduced to (with regret) are noted as impossible hurdles for the proposed barge traffic.

He demonstrates how narrow the channel is using the depth finder read-out to underscore his concern as we watched the depth of the river quickly drop to only five feet just beyond the channel. His boat parallels the shore, a visual aid that underscores the threat.

Carleton also sees the span between the supports of the Westport Island Bridge as another potential disaster. Any loss of control needs no further description.

Throughout the trip, the lobsterman continues to call our attention to the beauty and feel of the river. "Take a minute and just inhale it," he said. He is proud of the hopes of his 13-year-old granddaughter who looks forward to following her grandfather's choice of lifestyle someday, already holding her student license.

"This is the inheritance I want to leave for my children," he says.