The Penobscot Marine Museum campus along Route 1 in Searsport

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Penobscot Marine Museum catalogues Maine collections

Thanks to a grant of $3,886 from the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board, the Penobscot Marine Museum has rehoused and cataloged four collections documenting quintessential 19th and 20th century Maine industries. The collections document the shipping of Maine’s natural resources, the use of Maine built ships in the global trading… SEE MORE

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Two paws up—Dog biscuits made with green crabs

Angela Myracle’s research is going to the dogs. Or, more accurately, for the dogs. As a scientist with Maine EPSCoR’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET), Myracle looks for innovations in aquaculture. And when the assistant professor of human nutrition at the University of Maine spied dog treats at a local supermarket that were made… SEE MORE

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Taking kelp from good idea to foodie favorite

By Sally Noble Seaweed was once that annoyingly crunchy dried stuff that Maine vacationers avoided on a summer beach. No longer. The hot new superfood is kelp, a large seaweed highly praised by national food writers at Vogue, The New York Times, Martha Stewart’s Civil Eats, Restaurant News and the Knorr Future 50 Report. And a… SEE MORE

The view toward Roque Bluffs State Park.

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Tiny Roque Bluffs working to create broadband network

By Tom Groening Roque Bluffs is an idyllic coastal Washington County town, a peninsula south of Machias with rolling hills and fields leading to a state park with a pretty sand beach. But it’s also on the wrong side of the digital divide, and community leaders, including First Selectman Lisa… SEE MORE

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Maine is not ‘full,’ and we need to act

By Tom Groening Most Mainers know the story of Flagstaff, the town in western Maine that was evacuated and then flooded in 1950 to create a back-up water impoundment for the Wyman Lake hydropower dam. It was a sacrifice made in the interest of the greater good, but the back-up… SEE MORE

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Wrack Line: Boats, cars, and piers

Compiled by Tom Groening My spring to-do list emerges as the snow and ice retreat in my yard this time of year. Gone are the excuses that sub-freezing air and snow cover provided for my home- and yard-improvement projects. Given Maine’s short construction season, it seems the same urgency is… SEE MORE

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Canadians try their own alternative lobster bait

By William Hall While tariffs imposed by China are focusing international attention on the demand for lobster, Maine’s top export product, a forum April 5 in Portland focused international attention on what lobsters demand. Nearly 150 people attending the Canadian/U.S. Lobstermen’s Town Meeting discussed potential solutions to the region’s shortage… SEE MORE

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The dream marriage in Maine: ‘Live+Work’ here

By Tom Groening Nate Wildes has the hardest job in Maine. Or maybe it’s the easiest. Or maybe it’s both. Wildes, 28, is tasked with the oh-so-important job of helping reverse two of Maine’s biggest demographic challenges—its stagnant population growth, and its oldest-in-the-nation population status. Both impact the state’s ability… SEE MORE

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Bigger boat for Peaks raises host of concerns

By Kim MacIsaac For nearly 150 years the Casco Bay islands of Peaks, Long, Little and Great Diamond, Cliff, and Chebeague have been served by numerous ferry lines which, by 1920, had coalesced into Casco Bay Lines. Prior to 1982, Casco Bay Lines was a privately-owned company operating passenger boats… SEE MORE

Josh Spearing looks at different kinds of PFDs

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To PFD or not to PFD…

By Tom Groening//Photos by Kelli Park A quick, random survey of a half-dozen fishermen on their use of personal flotation devices, or PFDs, at the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport on March 1 led to a telling moment. Philip Donovan, 48, who lobsters out of Bass Harbor, acknowledged that… SEE MORE