Bumble Bee Foods, which has owned the plant here since 2004, attributed the closing to federal regulations that have reduced the amount of Atlantic herring, sardines before processing, that can be hauled from the sea. (Although Bumble Bee is the owner, the cannery is still known as the Stinson plant, after the founding family.)

Image Maine was once a hub of the sardine business, with more than 50 canneries. Credit... David Conover for The New York Times

Maine was once a frenetic hub of the sardine business, starting in the 1870s. The industry reached its peak in the early 1950s, when it employed thousands of workers at more than 50 canneries.

This plant, identifiable by its giant slicker-clad seafarer holding a tin of Beach Cliff sardines, is by far the biggest employer in this pocket of peninsulas more than halfway up the coastline. When its doors close, 128 people will lose their jobs, and the ripple will be felt throughout the local economy. Unemployment in Hancock County, where the plant is located, was above 12 percent in January, already higher than the state average.

State officials have tried to lure other companies to buy the factory, and Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, has said he was optimistic that a buyer would be found and that some workers would be rehired. But many are still anxious about their futures.

“Everybody here is in limbo,” said Peter Colson, the plant manager, who has worked here for 38 years. While the state is offering to help workers learn another trade and is making it easier to sign up for unemployment, he said that many would not accept an unemployment check — himself among them. “I’ve never been unemployed since I was old enough to walk,” he said.