Category: Business

Kristan Porter heads out to one of his two boats.

Working Waterfront

Kristan Porter remains grounded as fisheries shift

By Laurie Schreiber//Photos by Leslie Bowman Anyone who’s been to any confab in the various Maine fisheries over the past couple of decades will likely recognize Kristan Porter—a steadfast presence and an articulate voice in the thorny world of management and policy. That’s true now more than ever, since he… SEE MORE
A view of part of Vinalhaven’s Main Street

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven plans for downtown’s future

By Tom Groening Though it is 13 miles offshore, the island community of Vinalhaven functions much like a mainland coastal town. With a year-round population of 1,200, it is the most populous of Maine’s island communities, and it features a compact, attractive downtown. That downtown was the subject of community-wide… SEE MORE
Jon Nass

Working Waterfront

Portland shipper offers ‘first pallet free’

Story/Photos by Kelli Park The Maine Port Authority and Icelandic shipping company Eimskip are collaborating on a new initiative to put Maine on the international map, one pallet-load at a time. The initiative, launched in April, aims to remove obstacles for Maine businesses exploring international trade opportunities using Eimskip’s vast… SEE MORE
A map showing part of the Gulf of Maine's watershed.

Working Waterfront

The Gulf of Maine, 30 years out

By Catherine Schmitt Animated maps show currents flowing in, around, and out of the Gulf of Maine, this sea within a sea, a counterclockwise gyre from the edge of vanishing Arctic ice, in and around to the clenched fist of Cape Cod, and then out. As the currents churn like… SEE MORE
Eastport celebrates the Fourth of July.

Working Waterfront

2019 was Eastport’s ‘year of pulp’

By Tom Walsh It’s been nearly 40 years since Eastport’s then new, deepwater-import/export terminal opened for business. In 1981, the cargo vessel MV Ravenswood set out from Downeast Maine to Montrose, Scotland, loaded with kraft wood pulp from what was then the Georgia-Pacific mill just off Route 1 in the… SEE MORE
An aerial view of the West Branch of the Pleasant River. PAn aerial view of the West Branch of the Pleasant River.

Working Waterfront

Taking stock of a Downeast river

By Jon Keller Five degrees above zero and the wind peels northwest. Sky and river both black dark. Headlights shine in the small parking lot. The wind howls, rocks the truck. Out there in the headlight shine lies a slick mud bank and a river of churning brown water. Bobby… SEE MORE
Harvesting mussels.

Working Waterfront

Can our communities be marine-friendly?

By Craig Olson You’ve heard it many times, but it bears repeating: “Change is the only constant.” For Maine’s coastal economy, that statement couldn’t be more appropriate. For those who work on the water or rely on marine-based businesses, shifts in ocean use, diminishing fisheries, and access to steady supplies… SEE MORE