Jun. 8—The past, present and future of Portland’s working waterfront were on display Saturday in a variety of events and exhibits that gave unusual public access to the city’s increasingly precious harbor resources.

Locals and visitors from across the country turned out for the ninth annual Walk the Working Waterfront, an interactive open house showcasing the fishermen, seafood producers and wholesalers, restaurants, nonprofits and other Commercial Street purveyors who call Portland Harbor home.

Participants braved brief rain showers to explore the piers and wharves that rim the edge of the Old Port and tour fishing boats and Coast Guard vessels. The mostly admission-free afternoon events aimed to raise awareness of the city’s critical waterfront infrastructure by giving people behind-the-scenes access and firsthand experiences.

“Today is an opportunity to get to those places you wouldn’t normally be able to see,” said Tom Meyers, chair of the Waterfront Alliance of Portland Harbor, one of the sponsoring organizations.

Meyers said it also was an opportunity to learn about the growing impact of climate change on sea level rise, which was the featured topic of several demonstration and education stations along the waterfront.

With strings between posts, a display outside the Gulf of Maine Research Institute showed that sea level along Commercial Street is expected to rise about 1.5 to 3 feet by 2050, which would put most of the area underwater. Increased flooding of wharves, parking lots and buildings during recent storms has lent credence to scientists’ predictions.

“We’re going to have to either adapt or retreat from what we’re doing now,” Meyers said.

Bill Needelman, Portland’s waterfront coordinator, led several narrated walking tours along various wharves, orienting participants to the working waterfront’s geography, history, economy and role in the community.

“If we don’t protect waterfront infrastructure and access, our communities are increasingly at risk,” Needelman said as his first tour got underway.

Portland’s waterfront has always been Wabanaki land, prized for millennia because of the harbor’s safety and abundance, Needelman said. Through the years, ships, trains and trucks have expanded the waterfront’s reach, he said, but he pared his definition of the resource to a fine point.

“The waterfront is nothing but a line,” he said. “It exists to move people and things between the water and the land.”

Becky Thompson, of Gorham, one of 35 people on Needelman’s first tour, said she attends Walk the Working Waterfront every year.

“It’s educational and it’s fun,” she said. “And it’s nice to be in Portland for the day.”

Loren Bernardi, of Arlington, Massachusetts, said he saw an announcement about Saturday’s event and decided to head north on short notice.

“I’m always looking for interesting day trips,” Bernardi said. “I like coming to Portland and I’m interested in industrial history. I’m from the Midwest originally, so fishing and shipping are new to me.”

Jacqueline Van Meter, of Portland, was at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, where South Portland artist Nate Garrett demonstrated gyotaku, the traditional Japanese art of fish printing. Using an actual sea bass slathered in green paint, Garrett helped Van Meter decorate a canvas tote bag with an imprint of a fish.

“My uncle is visiting me and we were looking for something to do beyond the touristy stuff,” Van Meter said. “He’s an artist, so this was the perfect thing.”

The U.S. Coast Guard and its auxiliary welcomed visitors to Wright’s Wharf, where they offered boat tours, navigation safety lessons and recruitment opportunities. A Coast Guard helicopter flew up from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to demonstrate aspects of a swimmer rescue.

“We’re emphasizing the resiliency of our waterfronts,” said Theresa Torrent, a senior planner with the Maine Coastal Program, a primary funder of Saturday’s events. “Portland has worked very hard to maintain a mixed-use waterfront and we want to showcase that effort.”

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