Lobster Boats Sunk in Maine Harbor

Maine law enforcement officials say two lobster boats were intentionally sunk in Owls Head amid growing tensions among lobstermen two weeks after a lobster turf war escalated into a shooting on Matinicus Island.

Marine Patrol Col. Joe Fessenden said lobstermen arriving to pull traps Wednesday morning discovered two boats were sunk and a third was half-sunk in Owls Head harbor.

Fessenden said the half-sunk boat was brought to shore, where it was determined that a pipe had been cut inside the boat allowing ocean water to fill the boat's bilge. Efforts were under way to lift the other boats from the harbor bottom.

Violence has been on the rise among Maine lobstermen lately.

On July 20, a lobsterman fired his handgun at two fellow lobstermen while his daughter leveled her shotgun on the pair in a near-deadly confrontation on Matinicus Island, according to two lawsuits.

Vance Bunker, 68, is charged with elevated aggravated assault for allegedly shooting Christopher Young in the neck on July 20 in a dispute over lobster traps.

Young, who remains hospitalized, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Knox County Superior Court seeking damages from Bunker; Bunker's daughter, Janan Miller; and her husband, Alan Miller. Young's half brother, Weston Ames, also filed a lawsuit.

The complaints allege that Bunker and his daughter essentially ambushed Young and Ames on the island wharf.

Bunker's attorney, Philip Cohen, said Young and Ames had been threatening Bunker and his family for several days. Bunker had to use pepper spray to get Young off his boat earlier that day, he said.

"It was a case of self-defense and defense of his daughter," Cohen said.

On the morning of the shooting, Ames and Young were on the Matinicus wharf as Alan Miller pulled up on his lobster boat with a Marine Patrol officer aboard.

Just then, Bunker showed up in his pickup truck and Janan Miller stepped out from behind a stack of lobster traps armed with a shotgun, according to the lawsuits. As Ames attempted to prevent Janan Miller from pointing the shotgun at him and Young, Bunker drew a handgun from his holster and fired at him, but missed, Ames' lawsuit claims.

"Vance Bunker then turned, again took deliberate aim, this time at Christopher, and shot him in the neck," the suit says.

The Marine Patrol officer then arrested Bunker. Young was flown to the mainland, more than 20 miles away, and hospitalized.

In his complaint, Young said his hands are almost totally paralyzed and that he has limited control of his arms and is in constant pain. He said he expects lost earnings of $2.4 million in his lifetime, based on average earnings of $100,000 a year.

Turf wars among Maine lobstermen are not uncommon, but it is unusual for them to result in gunfire. Matinicus, which has about 50 year-round residents, has a reputation as a place where fishermen enforce their own brand of justice in territory disputes.

Both lobstermen involved in the Matinicus shooting have ties to the Owls Head area. But Fessenden says investigators have found no connection between the shooting and the sinkings.