Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, Ltd.

Maine Supreme Judicial Court · Property

Propertyintertidal zonepublic trust doctrineColonial Ordinancerockweedintertidal landupland ownerrockweed

Facts

Ross owned coastal upland and intertidal property on Cobscook Bay. Acadian, a commercial harvester, cut and removed living rockweed from Ross's intertidal property without Ross's permission, using skiffs in intertidal waters and specialized cutting rakes. The parties stipulated that rockweed is a plant that attaches by a holdfast to hard, stable intertidal substrate and, once detached, cannot reattach elsewhere. Ross sought a declaration that the attached rockweed belonged exclusively to him, while Acadian argued that harvesting it from the water was a public right under fishing and navigation.

Issue

Whether living rockweed growing on and attached to privately owned intertidal land in Maine is the private property of the adjacent upland owner or instead a public resource held by the State in trust for public harvesting. Relatedly, whether harvesting attached rockweed falls within the public's intertidal rights of navigation or fishing, or within a broader common-law balance of public use rights.

Rule

In Maine, the adjacent upland owner holds fee title to the intertidal zone subject only to limited public rights. Harvesting living rockweed attached to and growing in the intertidal zone is neither navigation nor fishing, even under a sympathetically broad interpretation of those terms, and it also falls outside any broader common-law public trust use because removing attached marine plants from privately owned intertidal land imposes an additional burden on the shore owner and upsets the reasonable balance between private ownership and public rights.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Dana Mercer owns upland property on the coast near Lubec, Maine, including the adjacent intertidal zone. Without Dana's permission, Baycrest Marine Harvest, a private company, cuts living bladderwrack attached by holdfasts to rocks in the intertidal area and removes it for fertilizer.

Who has the superior property claim to the attached seaweed under Maine law as described by the majority opinion?

Explanation. The majority held that in Maine the adjacent upland owner holds fee title to the intertidal zone subject only to limited public rights, and living rockweed attached to and growing there is private property of that owner. The same rule applies to a parallel hypothetical involving attached seaweed growing from intertidal rocks. (Derived from Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, Ltd. (n.d.).)