It seems that Providence is not the only city struggling to retain high-paying blue-collar port jobs in the face of condo developers out to exploit lucrative waterfront property. Similar battles are raging in Southern California, Florida, Maine, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina. But Providence’s brawl was the one probed in a panel discussion during the recent convention of the North Atlantic Ports Association at the Biltmore Hotel.

Those hoping to cash in on glitzy condo and marina development have called Providence’s gritty working waterfront hazardous and obsolete, studded with industrial “dinosaurs” that take up too much space for too few jobs. But that, of course, ignores what ports mean to a region’s economy.

Consider our “dinosaurs”:

• Promet Marine, a thriving company, has repaired boats for decades. Its two deepwater berths are able to handle ships up to 700 feet long.