Working Waterfront

Speeding the flow in the workforce pipeline

Visitors to Maine this summer were greeted with signs in storefront windows saying, “Now Hiring,” “Limited Hours due to Staffing Shortages,” or simply “Closed.” From the County to the coast, anyone who has been living in, working in, or visiting Maine could see the acute lack of workforce. A one-size-fits-all… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to shrink your seafood footprint

Farmed oysters, along with their cousins the clam and the mussel, are extremely carbon-light. SEE MORE

A lobsterman unloads his gear from his boat in Bar Harbor on a late October Sunday morning. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Fewer cruise ship passengers in Bar Harbor

Along with voting in Maine’s gubernatorial and legislative races, residents of some coastal towns made choices on local issues. In Bar Harbor, an ordinance to more strictly regulate cruise ships passed, now limiting 1,000 passengers to come into town each day. Enforcement may remain elusive, though. In the Boothbay area,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Study: lobster has small carbon footprint

In the spring of 2021, the Island Institute undertook a carbon footprint study with Maine-based seafood company and Island Institute partner Luke’s Lobster. It was the first time greenhouse gas emissions were measured along one company’s supply chain of Gulf of Maine lobster. Both the Institute, publisher of The Working… SEE MORE

Wild Blueberry Heritage Center to open in 2023

Working Waterfront

W.R. Allen donates antique canning equipment

Downeast Maine’s Wild Blueberry Heritage Center now owns some of the equipment that helped move the industry into the 20th century. The Wild Blueberry Heritage Center will replace the iconic Wild Blueberry Land bakery and gift shop on Route 1 in Columbia Falls, transforming the giant blueberry dome into a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Housing is top need, survey finds

Economic diversification and workforce development were rated as the second highest priority. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Op-ed: MDI housing crisis affects much more

The town of Mount Desert asserts in clear terms an underlying problem that radiates out into so many other issues. “The high cost for housing is currently one of the primary driving forces behind many of the issues facing the town of Mount Desert,” the town’s comprehensive plan argues. “An… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Blue Hill’s wastewater blues

A task force in Blue Hill is developing strategies to mitigate the impact of sea level rise on the town’s infrastructure and other resources. And it’s determined that the greatest risk is to the town’s wastewater treatment facility. “It will be an expensive task to upgrade the current facility as… SEE MORE

An employee of Lyman-Morse in Thomaston carries a boat stand. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Maine boatbuilding: Busy, but fraught

According to the industry trade association Maine Built Boats, boatbuilding in the state generates annual industrywide sales of more than $650 million and some 5,000 jobs. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Deer Isle causeway’s curvy history

The excellent article on the vulnerability of the Deer Isle causeway (The Working Waterfront, November issue) prompts me to add some history, as well as some things to consider when planning future modifications. Before the causeway was built, passage between Deer Isle and Little Deer, unless by boat, was at… SEE MORE