Fishing off Stonington. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

‘Blue economy’ expert makes bold predictions

Speaking at the state’s top lobster-landing port, Charlie Colgan had a harsh prognosis for the fishery. But he also offered hope for a future for the community in which it might still rely on a thriving blue economy. Colgan, a former state economist and director of research for the Center… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Institute funded for lobster work

Island Institute has landed a $1.4 million grant from the Small Business Administration to support Maine’s lobster industry and enhance the economic resilience of the coastal communities dependent on this vital fishery. This congressionally directed spending request championed by Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King will launch the Future of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Neighbors helping neighbors on islands

Twenty-five years ago, residents of Vinalhaven asked the Genesis Community Loan Fund for help. Without local options, their aging neighbors were often forced to leave the island for care in mainland facilities, separating them from their homes and families. Genesis support helped open the Ivan Calderwood Home in 2001, enabling… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

After the storms: Downeast coast rebuilds

The owners of Chipman’s Wharf, a seafood market, lobster buying station, and restaurant in Milbridge, had a brutal awakening after the powerful January storms wiped away their 106-foot wharf. SEE MORE

A bed and breakfast inn in Eastport. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Tourist industry holds steady

With the leaves beginning to turn, Maine businesses that cater to tourists are shifting their focus from peak occupancy to peak color. Looking back at the June-through-August season, the consensus seems to be that business has been about like last year, or maybe a bit better. According to the Maine… SEE MORE

Business

Luke Maker, 8, of Machiasport runs the family skiff through a cove earlier this summer using an electric outboard purchased through a grant from Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Luke and is father, Ryan, fish for lobster. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Lobster season brings sense of normalcy

The 2024 lobster season has brought Maine fishermen something they haven’t experienced in recent years: A sense of normalcy. After several years of volatile price swings for their catches, unpredictable harvests, and increased costs for everything from bait to fuel, this year is shaping up to be unusually ordinary, lobstermen… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Public, private don’t always play nicely

Imagine the reaction to a town renting out offices in a public library built through the beneficence of Andrew Carnegie a century ago. Or a John D. Rockefeller-donated carriage trail in Acadia National Park being turned into a for-profit go-cart track. It’s not quite as dramatic as all that, but… SEE MORE

Jimmy Steele poses with the beginnings of one of his legendary peapods in a photo by Everett “Red” Boutilier. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

Intriguing photo reveals a boat’s essence

I have always been drawn to unusual photographs. I love how the camera can take a slice out of the real world, which, once removed from its context, becomes a riddle for the viewer to figure out. I had this reaction when I first saw the accompanying photograph of Jimmy… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Strategies for a climate-ready coast

For Maine’s rocky shores, offshore seaweed habitats and oyster reefs can effectively reduce wave energy. Restored kelp forests in Norway have cut wave height by up to 50% and wave energy by 70-80%, enhancing shoreline stability. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine granite firm works on Lady Liberty

Help wanted signs offering a plethora of enticing benefits are ubiquitous these days as companies large and small struggle to find enough workers, but a set of such signs posted along Route 1 in the Hancock County town of Orland offers a recruitment enticement you don’t see every day: Join… SEE MORE

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