Working Waterfront

Cooke is not minding its Maine pens

Forty-three years ago, anglers from five fish and game clubs in Washington County formed the Downeast Salmon Federation. Today DSF employs 12 staff and conducts a variety of conservation activities to recover all species of sea-run fish in Maine. Over the years, DSF has taken positions on many fisheries, land… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster landings dip, but price was up

Lobster harvesters earned $528.4 million in 2024, with an average per-pound price of $6.14, according to data released by the state Department of Marine Resources. The so-called boat price, that which is paid to lobstermen, was up last year from the 2023 value of $464 million. The price is the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

It’s time for an honest conversation about aquaculture

In the last few years we have watched the promise of an innovative and dynamic seafood industry be picked apart by groups flying a false flag of environmentalism or “fishing heritage.” SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cape Cod fishing boats add water sensors

Within the next year, some 150 Cape Cod fishing boats will be equipped with sensors to collect vital information about ocean temperatures and water oxygen levels off the northeast coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The information collected will help researchers better understand the changing conditions of the Atlantic Ocean in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fishing photos: ‘What’s going on here?’

Crowley has chosen dozens and dozens of images from the museum’s collection and explains what is being depicted. In 2012, Diversified Communications, publisher of National Fisherman, donated its thousands of pre-digital (that is, film) photo archives to the museum. SEE MORE

Harvested rockweed at a boat launch in Hancock. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

A life in seaweed, seen from inside

For the past 50 years, I have harvested seaweeds for food, medicine, and fertilizer, working within a five-mile radius of a home cove on Gouldsboro Bay where I keep my four little wooden boats which I built for $1,000 over 40 years ago. There’s no “floating mortgage” in my business.… SEE MORE

Central Wharf in Portland. FILE PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Portland’s ‘Big Dig’ gets underway, finally

[caption id="attachment_46664" align="alignnone" width="700"] A dredger loads dredged materials onto a barge near the Maine State Pier. PHOTO: COURTESY ERNO BONEBAKKER[/caption] Work has begun on a long-awaited project to remove hundreds of millions of pounds of contaminated muck from around wharves, marinas, boatyards, and public boat launches in Portland Harbor.… SEE MORE

A boat arrives at the Monhegan pier. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Building higher on Monhegan

Facing the community now is the decision of how to move forward—forward toward a response to the increasingly powerful winter storms and the growing summer traffic. The main thing I am considering is how the changes will last for generations and affect the function of the island in every season. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A poor report card from Maine’s ocean

Arctic warming and accelerating ice melt are leading to changes in global ocean circulation. With a northward shift of the Gulf Stream and a retreat of the Labrador Current, more warm, salty, low-nutrient Gulf Stream water is entering the Gulf of Maine. SEE MORE

Cod drying on a Newfoundland shore. ADOBE STOCK

Working Waterfront

How Newfoundland fishermen protected their own

It was into this environment that the Fishermen's Protective Union was initiated by Newfoundland businessman William Ford Coaker. He recognized that the system meant fishermen had no direct access to markets or control over prices. SEE MORE