ST. GEORGE — On Tuesday, October 17, at 11 a.m., residents of the town of St. George, which includes the villages of Tenants Harbor and Port Clyde, submitted a petition with more than 300 signatures at the town office and voice their opposition to plans by Maine Aqua Ventus to build a wind farm near Monhegan Island and bring the cable from the turbines onto shore in St. George.

The nonprofit PORT (Preserve Our Remarkable Town) joins with the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association to share concerns that this project will have a negative impact on both the fishing community and residents in these historic villages, according to a news release issued Oct. 16 by PORT.

"I love energy and technology but we still need food and it is very short term thinking to destroy the fishing grounds to generate electricity," said Port Clyde fisherman and owner of Port Clyde Fresh Catch, Glen Libby, in the release.

Maine Aqua Ventus, a project from the University of Maine and several for profit corporations, is proposing to build two 576-feet-tall floating wind turbines with a fishing exclusionary zone 2.5 square miles around the floating platform, 15 miles over the cable and 150 feet on either side of it.

Their plan to land the cable in St. George requires infrastructure that residents say isn't in keeping with the character of the historic fishing village.

PORT has gathered more than 300 signatures on a petition that encourages the St. George Select Board to take all steps necessary to prevent the landing of high voltage cables on public or private property in the town of St George. In the event that the Select Board fails to reflect the will of the residents, we are prepared, with the requisite number of signatures, to compel a public vote on the issue.

"This project has the potential to decimate fishing in Muscongus Bay, so we stand with our fishermen to preserve fishing for generations to come," said Scott Sullivan, co-founder of PORT, in the release.