Working Waterfront

I don’t play island favorites

Editor’s note: Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, and AmeriCorps. This always happens. I’m telling someone what I do, how I work to lower the cost of energy on Monhegan and Matinicus… Read more » SEE MORE

Fishermen head back to Bass Harbor after a day hauling traps.

Working Waterfront

Fishing—a risky business

Fishermen face two realities on the water. There’s the potential for accidents that could result in death, injury or vessel loss. Then there’s the sheer pain many live with every day, a result of the bodily stresses they endure doing this hard work. Hazardous working conditions, strenuous labor, long work hours and harsh weather make… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Program gives islanders a leg up on lobstering

FRENCHBORO—Residents hoping to sustain a viable lobster fishing community are celebrating the implementation of a program that allows island fishermen to get fishing licenses more quickly than their mainland counterparts. “It’s a wonderful program to sustain the island for generations to come, not just for us, but for others,” said Kim Smith of the state’s… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Propane on ferries remains a balancing act

ROCKLAND — Trucks carrying propane in bulk or in 100-pound cylinders can travel to islands on the state ferry service, but not without restrictions on the number of passengers on the vessels. That’s the compromise solution offered to the Maine State Ferry Service by the U.S. Coast Guard, after federal regulations threatened to end… Read more » SEE MORE

Business

Working Waterfront

Retirements, resignations and tenacious deer—roundup from Maine Islands Coalition

Alton Hadley, part-time school superintendent and principal on Chebeague Island and one-day-a-week superintendent on Long Island, is retiring at the end of the school year, reported Maine Islands Coalition (MIC) representative Beverly Johnson at the group’s Feb. 26 meeting. Chebeague’s administrative assistant, Eric Dyer, also announced he is leaving the town office post. In other… Read more » SEE MORE

People

Students who are part of the Outer-Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative play outside during an inter-island field trip.

Working Waterfront

Small island schools get creative for phys ed

OK, now squats with our arms up! Let’s count down… 20…19…18…17… Straight arms! Pretend like you’re sitting in a chair. Early on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in a few island schools along the coast, the video conference meeting ring comes through, lights flicker on, and faces showing varying degrees of sleepiness come into focus on… Read more » SEE MORE

News

Conference to be held on energy challenges for New England islands

10/23/2014 - PORTLAND, ME—The Island Institute will host the Fifth Annual Island Energy Conference on November 7th in Portland, Maine. The event will bring together energy experts and island leaders from New England’s year-round island communities and beyond to discuss common energy challenges and to learn more about resources that exist to address those challenges. SEE MORE

Press Release

Island Journal

What Scotland’s Islands Taught Me

What Scotland’s Islands Taught Me Sally, our 17-year-old Scottish waitress, shyly replies to a question about the logistics of island education. “It takes an hour and a half on the school bus to get from my house to my school,” she says, taking a moment between customers at this tiny inn in a remote… Read more » SEE MORE

Islands From Away