Working Waterfront

Bait shortage could hit lobster fishery hard

PEACH FREDERICK A bait bin being lifted at Rockland's Fish Pier. By Susie Arnold There is no question that herring is going to be in short supply in 2019 and the years to come. Based on the recent poor stock assessment of the Atlantic herring population, the New England Fisheries… SEE MORE

Rockland's Snow Marine Park on a spring morning.

Working Waterfront

Welcome home, Rockland

By David Wylie Down East magazine chose Rockland in 2018 as the best place to live in Maine. We have come a long way. From the plywood windows on Main Street of 25 years ago amid a stagnating fishing industry, Rockland has come into its own as a major tourist destination… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Southern Maine real estate market heating up

By Wanda Curtis Escalating listing prices, bidding wars, and low inventory characterized Maine’s coastal real estate market in 2018. This year, predicts Pete Harrington, president of the Maine Real Estate Association, listing prices and sales volume will begin to level off. One of the most active coastal towns last year was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Luke’s Lobster to enter Portland market

By Stephanie Bouchard In the last weeks of 2018, Luke’s Lobster, a restaurant group with Maine roots, announced it is opening its first Portland-based restaurant. It will be the second Luke’s Lobster restaurant in Maine. A restaurant in Tenants Harbor has been open seasonally since 2016. Co-founded by Luke Holden,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Hello Sailor’ finds homeport in Newcastle

Hello Sailor T-shirt By Sally Noble//Photos by Michele Stapleton A happily married couple, they packed their memories of long, lazy summer vacations—like that of their first meeting, in 2003, at campcamp.com, a free-spirited gay camp in the Maine woods. Weary of their frenetic life in the Washington D.C. area, filled… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Can both sides win in the battle over the waterfront?

By Tom Groening Now that I have six years under my belt here at the Island Institute, I’ve begun—cautiously—to accept a few speaking engagements, holding forth on the topic of the working waterfront. My presentation is very much a work in progress, and I begin by disclosing that I am… SEE MORE

An aerial view of the business location.

Working Waterfront

Vessel Services: Where fishing boats go to shop

By William Hall Despite its three-story ice-making plant at the seaward end of the Portland Fish Pier, Vessel Services Inc. is almost invisible to passers-by at the other end, along bustling Commercial Street. But for crews of the two dozen groundfishing craft and 100 or so lobster boats that operate… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Blue Hill grows a second downtown

PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN An aerial view of the South Street commercial district, just west of Blue Hill village. By Laurie Schreiber The Blue Hill Co-op is on track to move from cramped quarters on a complicated downtown corner to a much larger and custom-designed space a mile to the east,… SEE MORE

Mixed use or conflicting uses? An early winter scene in Boothbay Harbor captures the fishing industry’s presence along with nearby tourism-related buildings.

Working Waterfront

The last fisherman?

Analysis by Edgar Allen Beem When it comes to the working waterfront, there always seems to be someone with a big idea that doesn’t quite fit with existing ordinances and practices. Recently, a pair of hotel proposals had residents of Boothbay Harbor and Portland wrestling with the endless challenge of… SEE MORE

A cruise ship at Eastport's breakwater pier.

Working Waterfront

And there are cruise ships, too, in Eastport

By Tom Walsh Cruise ship traffic can be both a blessing and a curse for Maine ports. Visitors who come ashore—at times thousands of passengers and crew—represent millions of dollars in local seasonal revenues. The same visitors can also overwhelm a small community, as has happened in Bar Harbor. Eastport’s… SEE MORE