Category: Blog

Since the development of Maine’s Ocean Energy Task Force in 2008, the Island Institute has worked to help the questions, priorities, and concerns of fishermen and fishing communities be heard in decisions about ocean use. As we move into a new set of work to support these conversations, here’s some of what we’re bringing with us from the past 13 years.

Now that Maine’s Climate Action Plan, “Maine Won’t Wait,” has been finalized and shared widely, what’s our role at the Island Institute in supporting our state’s ambitious goals? Since our last update, we’ve continued to work alongside Maine’s island and coastal communities to build climate resilience. Here, we highlight several examples of where we’re collaborating with communities and partner organizations.

In 2020, more than 14,000 Mainers participated in academic and workforce training through Maine Adult Education. They are Maine’s future: people who are overcoming barriers to employment and learning new skills they’ll need to access post-secondary education and training. Adult education is their avenue to that first job, or the next better job. And COVID-19 threw another enormous obstacle in the way.

At the Island Institute, we’re proud to collaborate with leaders across the coast to build resiliency and create opportunities that help to ensure our marine economies remain vibrant. “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods” is the theme for World Oceans Day 2021, so we and our partners at Luke’s Lobster asked members of our community whose livelihoods depend on the ocean to share a little bit about their work, their connection to the sea, and the ways they’re working to create a more sustainable coast.

When the pandemic hit, it was hard to ignore the depth of the digital divide in Maine. We worried about school children and adults unable to work from home, because broadband access was not available or affordable. At the National Digital Equity Center, we worried about the many older adults who were already isolated and lonely being left behind without a way to safely connect with the world. Did our older adults have the resilience to brave this new-to-them world?

Here in Maine, an estimated 85,000 households do not have access to broadband internet of any kind because it is not available where they live. Not all of these 85,000 households are in poverty, but most of them are. Without computers, the skills to use them, and access to reliable broadband internet, these households face more significant challenges to break their cycle of poverty.

Access to reliable high-speed internet in Maine has been an issue from the first day that the first Mainer was provided an internet connection and their neighbor was not. So, how does it affect our ability to sustain ourselves and to thrive—now and post-pandemic—if we are unable to afford the subscription cost or equipment required to connect?

This Earth Day, we’re celebrating the important strides we’ve taken in a partnership rooted in the resiliency and sustainability of the coast of Maine. Hear from Ben Conniff, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Luke’s Lobster, on the work that is being done to address climate change and support coastal communities.

With Earth Day around the corner, I would like to highlight a nascent industry on the Maine coast that is not only a boon for Maine’s marine economy, but is also good for the Earth. Kelp farming has emerged as a solid way for those making a living from the sea to earn supplemental income during the winter kelp growing season.