Blueberries in Autumn - With over 6.5 million naturally evolved varieties , wild blueberry fields can contain 1,500 genetically distinct plants . From a biodiversity perspective , wild blueberries are unique in the world and are a strong influence on ecosystems in Downeast Maine . Photo by Arthur Tenan .
develop the first nationwide markets for the product . Canned lobster became an expensive luxury item , and was shipped to Boston , New York , and other cities .
Today the lobster fishery is the number one marine resource industry in all of Maine , and the Downeast region specifically has the largest landings in the state . The fishing ports of Stonington and Jonesport boast the largest annual commercial harvest of lobster in Maine , the largest supplier of lobster in the world . Commercial fishermen also harvest eels , alewives , smelt , crabs , herring , halibut , shrimp , scallops , urchins , worms , whelks , and seaweed . Sea farming of Atlantic salmon , mussels , and seaweed is becoming more common in Downeast Maine .
The Massachusetts Colonial Ordinance of 1641-1647 established public rights to coastal resources , granting every household “ free fishing and fowling as far as the tide doth ebb and flow .” In 1820 , when it became a state independent of Massachusetts , Maine retained this law granting rights to residents to take seafood for personal and family use . Downeast Maine residents utilize their recreational fisheries rights today ; lobster , clams , crab , and fin fish continue to be important food sources .
Wild Blueberries
Downeast Maine is home to a landscape that exists nowhere else in the world – the wide-open expanses of low-bush wild blueberry fields , called “ barrens ”. Wild blueberries have thrived
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