In The News

Briana Warner is the economic development director at the Island Institute. The nonprofit, which has a mission of sustaining Maine’s island and coastal communities, recently released a report on consumer preferences for edible seaweeds. We called her up to talk about the report, which she co-authored. Our conversation ranged from why growing kelp is such an easy aquaculture sell for fishermen and ways to build demand for Maine seaweed to what the “low tide test” is and how to pass it. And yes, we did ask her about the much-loved pie company she used to run.

Maine mussels are losing their muscle. The state’s blue mussels are beloved by seafood fans near and far, but the size of the annual harvest has dipped in recent years, bottoming out at a 40-year low in 2016. Harvesters collected less than 1.8 million pounds of mussel meat in 2016, the lowest total since 1976. That year also marked the first time the state’s mussel harvesters topped a million pounds. They have exceeded 6 million pounds three times in the 1980s and 1990s, and routinely topped 3 million pounds until 10 years ago.

State and federal representatives, island leaders and community partners joined the Monhegan community at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 21 to celebrate the completion of a comprehensive upgrade to the island’s energy systems. The culmination of countless hours of hard work, the project enables the community-owned Monhegan Plantation Power District to power the island with cleaner burning diesel-fired microturbines and a solar array. The new system is designed to improve reliability and safety of service and reduce generator emissions on the island.

Edible seaweed is nothing new. Along Ireland's rocky coast, seaweed has been harvested for food for centuries, even, legend has it, brought along as a provision by St. Brendan on his fifth-century voyage to find paradise. It's a staple of Asian food and no sushi bar is without it. But Maine edible seaweed? Definitely not the stuff of legends, or even of most dinner tables.

On Friday, September 1st, from 5:00-8:00 p.m., Bill Laurita, president of Swans Island Company, will join Archipelago and some of the gallery's featured artists for a special reception during Rockland's First Friday Art Walk.The public is invited to stop into the gallery's 386 Main Street location to hear about the history of Swans Island Company on the Maine coast over the past 25 years as well as the story behind many of its handcrafted textiles.

Monhegan Island, which has some of the highest electricity costs in the nation, completed a comprehensive upgrade of its power-generating system that includes the addition of a solar array and installation of a new, cleaner-burning diesel generator. At roughly 70 cents per kilowatt hour, the island's electricity costs are approximately five times higher than the average residential cost in Maine, according to an analysis conducted by the Maine Public Utilities Commission based on rates that were current on Dec. 31, 2015.

Maine is known around the world for the iconic lobster boats that dot the coast and are the primary vehicle for the state's renowned fishing industry. Portland-based photographer Mark Fleming has developed a new perspective on these boats by using a drone to capture them in an innovative, yet classic fashion. The Island Institute is celebrating Fleming’s extraordinary visual record of these working vessels by featuring his work on the covers of the new edition of the Island Journal, the Institute’s annual magazine. The covers not only offer striking images, but also a new look at the boats that are so economically, culturally and historically important to the coast of Maine.

Archipelago, the Island Institute’s store and gallery will host an opening reception for its summer gallery show from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at 386 Main St. during Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk. Attendees can see new pieces and meet some of the artists. The show, which will highlight the work of painters Wendy Newcomb and Gary Hoyle, as well as Appleton wood turner Richard Dunham, will run Aug. 4 through Oct. 29. Newcomb is a representational painter whose primary mediums include oil, gouache and acrylic.

Maine island communities pay some of the highest energy costs in the nation, but they are also leading the way in transitioning to clean energy systems. Learn more during the talk, "Island Energy: Transitioning to a Cleaner Future," August 9.

If you've ever dreamed of moving to an idyllic vacation spot, Maine's coastal islands offer a cautionary tale. Jobs are limited to lobstering, boatbuilding and caretaking of summer residences. And lousy Internet service makes telecommuting difficult to impossible. But now some Maine lobstermen and would-be telecommuters are banding together to pay for costly infrastructure they hope will help preserve a threatened way of life.