The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
Please join us to support this important nonprofit journalism.
- Community
- People
- Opinion
- Environment
- Marine
- Inter-island News
- Business
- Columns
- Arts
- Education
- Book Review
- Climate Change
- Cranberry Report
- Journal of an Island Kitchen
- Salt Water Cure
- Op Ed
- Reflections
- Observer
- Fathoming
- Field Notes
- Rockbound
- Essay
- Energy
- Editorial
- Letters to the Editor
- In Plain Sight
- Wrack Line
- From The Sea Up
- Dispatches from World Ocean Observatory
July 20
Muffins, doughnuts and the little blue house
Baking tradition on Little Cranberry continues with brick oven
By Barbara Fernald Forty years ago I had a college roommate who amazed her friends by making English muffins from scratch. She baked them in a covered skillet sprinkled with cornmeal to keep them from sticking. She passed the recipe along to those of us who were interested. A few years later, after I had moved to Little Cranberry Island,…
July 20
Oil, water and poorly considered science mix in Destiny
Sci-fi novel imagines environmental catastrophe off New England
Reviewed by Tina Cohen The cover of Carl Howe Hansen's first novel presents some powerful allusions. The photograph by Peter Ralston features what we can assume is the book’s Pine…
July 20
Store serving island artists marks 15th anniversary
Archipelago Fine Arts Gallery and Gift Store has featured 200-plus artists
The challenges of living on an island are many, but for an island artist, there is one more: getting your work recognized off-island. But a shop and gallery on the…
July 20
Vinalhaven transfers lighthouse to foundation
Town cites costs of maintenance as reason
VINALHAVEN — Citing the burden of maintenance costs, the town has decided to transfer its ownership of Browns Head Lighthouse to a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve the…
July 20
What you hear about lobsters, and what's true
Were lobsters served in prisons and poor houses?
By Sandy Oliver There are oft-told stories that long ago lobsters were food fit only for the poor, that the prisoners at the Maine State Penitentiary (and apprentices in Boston)…
July 16
Environment is a wild card for lobster
Mercury in Penobscot River, dredge spoils off Islesboro are threats
In June, a battery of highly paid lawyers sat at a table in federal court in Bangor, the company they represent on the hook for dumping mercury in the lower…
July 16
Ernestina-Morrissey: A schooner that carries history
Unique pedigrees combine for vintage schooner restoration
By Laurie Schreiber BOOTHBAY HARBOR—Talk about living history. The historic Boothbay Harbor Shipyard is beginning a new phase to restore the historic Essex, Mass.-built Ernestina-Morrissey—a former Grand Banks fishing schooner,…
July 16
Lobster futures uncertain, but efforts underway to boost demand
Planning, marketing are key
Bobby Beckman is just 22, but when it comes to the lobster business, he takes the long view. "I figure, lobsters have been here millions of years," he says, foot…
July 16
Lobster union approaches three-year anniversary
Group considers purchasing buying station
Formed in the midst of the price crisis during the summer of 2012, the Maine Lobstering Union will mark its third anniversary in September. The prices fishermen get have rebounded,…
July 16
Maine Sail Freight offers new way to think about trade
Events this summer link farm food to shipping ports
What do we who produce food from the land and sea have in common? For one thing, a changing climate. Changes in the weather have big impacts on the businesses…
Island Postcards
EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining
Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.
SIGN UP FOR OUR
E-WEEKLY
Get the latest articles from the Working Waterfront delivered to your inbox every week.
SIGN UP NOWTHE WORKING WATERFRONT
LATEST ISSUE
A nonprofit publication of the Island Institute which has been published for over 20 years.
LEARN MORE