Working Waterfront

Valuing education for the tourism economy

Collaboration, creative problem solving, and caring leadership—all are taught within the University of Southern Maine’s Tourism & Hospitality program as part of a student’s education in sustainable tourism management. And with good reason. The Bachelor of Arts in Tourism & Hospitality Management at USM is unique in that thinking about… SEE MORE

The crew of the FV Nicole Leigh unloads its catch in Portland.

Working Waterfront

Fishermen feeding Mainers expands reach

The Fishermen Feeding Mainers program provided financial relief to fishermen at a time when seafood markets were either shuttered or shaky, while also supplying food banks and families in need with seafood that was otherwise going unsold. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster Institute names new director

Since 1987 the Lobster Institute has been a center of discovery, innovation and outreach at UMaine with the goal of promoting, conducting, and communicating research focused on the sustainability of the American lobster fishery in the U.S. and Canada. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

That New England spirit in literature

grandfather, Sanford “Dick” Lunt. Writing, producing, and selling Hauling by Hand was a crash course in publishing. Dean Lunt said, “We used that book to learn about book design, cover design, distribution, sales.” SEE MORE

Knasic Byer checks fluid on a truck in the automotive shop.

Working Waterfront

The next generation of workers is here

There is far more interest in the diverse programs the school offers than it can accommodate, Deetjen says, with, for example, 60 applying for the small engine program which can only include 16. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

For our towns, when are the ‘good old days’?

Do communities have their “good old days?” Do they peak? And if so, how do we measure the qualities that contribute to that status? SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Learning from one town’s pioneering spirit

Down the Pemaquid Peninsula and bordering Muscongus Bay sits the small coastal town of Bremen. According to the town’s website, Bremen was “founded in 1828 by pioneers and fishermen.” I can’t fully picture what those early pioneers encountered along the coast or what they imagined their futures to be. I… SEE MORE

Hancock Street in Portland. PHOTO: MICHELE STAPLETON

Working Waterfront

The transformation of Portland’s eastern waterfront

Along the eastern waterfront, even more changes will come. A development company plans to build hundreds of housing units, retail space, a luxury hotel and a huge parking garage on land that formerly housed the historic Portland Co. at the end of Thames Street. SEE MORE

University of Maine doctoral candidate Phoebe Jekielk, right, works with students from Islesboro Central School in Stonington.

Working Waterfront

Students contribute to ‘archipelago of knowledge’

The crew of high school students and Hurricane Island educators joined Dr. Carla Guenther, chief scientist at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, who is the principal investigator. The focus of this project is to understand where to find juvenile scallops... SEE MORE

A panel discussion on small-scale aquaculture in Stonington on April 24 included, from left: Marsden Brewer, Mike Talhauser, Abby Barrows, Christian Brayden, Jaclyn Robidoux, and Kyle Pepperman.

Working Waterfront

A way forward for marine economy: Small-scale aquaculture

Near the end of an April 24 panel discussion in Stonington, a speaker described what he hoped the harbor would look like 50 years from now. Today, early mornings see fishermen heading out in skiffs to their boats, off to haul traps in this top-landing lobster port. But in the… SEE MORE