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Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine signed the groundbreaking “working waterfront” bill at the Greenport railroad dock — officially enacting unprecedented protections for the area’s commercial fishing and maritime heritage.

The ceremony to sign the legislation — attended by dozens of maritime business owners, as well as local politicos — marked the culmination of months of advocacy following the Suffolk County Legislature’s unanimous approval on Sept. 3.

“We need working waterfronts to encourage those in the oyster business, to encourage those growing kelp, to encourage those who are fishing — all those who earn their living by the sea,” Mr. Romaine told the assembled crowd. “If we do not have a working waterfront, if all that land is purchased and used for other things, we’re going to miss out on one of the heritage industries of this county.”

The new Chapter 26 of the Suffolk County Code establishes a framework for acquiring conservation easements on working waterfront properties, creating protections against development pressures that have threatened to transform commercial docks into residential properties.

Original reporting by Brendan Carpenter

The LCCA has established a steering group to lead the bid preparation.

It will involve representatives from all five universities connected to the county, major businesses such as BAE Systems, the Westinghouse nuclear power company near Preston, and small and medium sized supply-chain companies.

At a meeting of the LCCA last month, Blackburn with Darwen Council Labour leader Phil Riley said the pitch “plays to Lancashire’s strengths” and felt like “exactly the right thing that we should be getting started with”.

A total of £500m is available from the fund nationwide, but £360m has already been earmarked as uncontested “direct awards” that will be made to mayor-led combined authorities, leaving areas like Lancashire to make a case for a share of the remaining £140m.

Expressions of interest have to be lodged by mid-February and any completed bids by late June.