Working Waterfront

Don’t overlook the hidden marine economy

Much of the joy that comes in working this newspaper’s “beat” is tied to the rich breadth of the stories we consider. We print and circulate 50,000 copies of each issue (we publish ten times a year), and those copies are found from Portland to Eastport. That geographic range is… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Readers weigh-in on affordable housing

We recently sought reader thoughts on affordable housing, asking on The Working Waterfront’s Facebook page: Has your town already been priced out of the starter house market? If prices are high, what effects are you noticing? Are there too many seasonal homes? What might the state do to create more… SEE MORE

Wiscasset's historic downtown is on Maine Preservation's list of threatened properties.

Working Waterfront

Preserving our built heritage is worthwhile investment

By Greg Paxton and Sarah Hansen Maine’s jagged 3,478-mile coastline grows to over 5,000 miles with all 3,166 offshore islands included, and our maritime heritage established many of the state’s communities along the coast and tidal inlets. Worldwide ice caps and glaciers, which contain enough ice to raise sea levels… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Building a better lobster trap

It would be nice, Mark Brooks admits, if his family’s business could make just a few types of lobster traps. But with a laugh, he explains that lobstermen, legendary for their independent views on what works and what doesn’t, would not be the loyal customers they are if the company… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Demand for groundfish data continues to increase

The Sentinel Survey, now in its eighth year of research, collects data on the status of groundfish populations in Eastern Maine. The survey is conducted by Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, in collaboration with the University of Maine. Fishermen visit a total of 84 survey stations from June to October,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Museum hosts Maine Marine Fare, Sept. 9-10

Maine Marine Fare, a two-day symposium Sept. 9-10 at Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, focuses on what we take from and eat from the sea off the Maine coast, featuring Paul Greenberg as the keynote speaker at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Greenberg, a James Beard Award winner and author of Four Fish and American Catch,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Digging into the data about our marine economy

Look out at Rockland Harbor and you may see a tanker heading up the bay to Searsport, a midwater trawler coming in with a load of herring, or the cement tug and barge heading south. Thanks to a federal ocean planning initiative, those interested in the maritime world can do… SEE MORE

The Margaret Todd obscures the view of a cruise ship off Bar Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Southwest Harbor cool on cruise ships

Bar Harbor is Maine’s top cruise ship port, with 165 visit scheduled this year, bringing 226,846 passengers—up from 121 visits and 159,515 passengers in 2016. On cruise ship days, the waterfront and downtown are packed with visitors tendered in from ships at anchor. Many hop on buses that head to… SEE MORE

A house on Hancock Point boarded up for winter.

Working Waterfront

Reader views on affordable housing

This month, we sought reader thoughts on affordable housing, asking on The Working Waterfront’s Facebook page: Has your town already been priced out of the starter house market? If prices are high, what effects are you noticing? Are there too many seasonal homes? What might the state do to create… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The science, history, and business of the Maine blueberry

Maine’s wild blueberries started out 10,000 years ago as a scrappy survivor in the nutrient-deficient sandy plain left behind by receding glaciers. Today, the wild blueberry is a signature Maine product. Growing naturally in fields and barrens that stretch along the Downeast coast, the blueberry is adapted to Maine’s naturally… SEE MORE