Harbor Watch Inn owner Colleen Hyland (right) looks on as Janice Kenyon of Southwest Harbor uses the inn’s new charging station with her all-electric 2015 Nissan Leaf.

Working Waterfront

Electric vehicle charging station installed on Swan’s Island

The Harbor Watch Inn on Swan’s Island has partnered with Tesla Motors and installed a charging station for electric cars. Tesla offers such hardware to encourage those in the hospitality industry to adopt this emerging technology. Colleen Hyland, the inn’s owner, wanted to offer charging service for guests who own electric… SEE MORE

The southern half of the Penobscot watershed.

Working Waterfront

Taking the long view means answering tough questions

“We will be the ancestors someday.” This truism came from Penobscot Nation tribal elder Butch Phillips as part of the welcome to over 300 people who attended the Penobscot Watershed Conference on April 9. The statement was a weighty one—when future generations look back, what will they learn from the… SEE MORE

With 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. imported from other countries

Working Waterfront

Globalized seafood market clashes with sustainability

In his award-winning book The Mortal Sea, historian Jeffrey Bolster detailed the 19th century decline of Northwest Atlantic fisheries, a tragedy encouraged and hidden by expansion to new waters, and advances in harvesting and processing technology that kept markets overflowing with seafood. As Bolster described it, “The market masked the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fishermen’s forum includes lobster check-up

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. In addition to the news that lobster fishermen’s landings totaled a record $500 million in 2015, there were several science updates at the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum that addressed common concerns about the fishery. Where do we stand with shell… SEE MORE

Shellfish aquaculture is a growing marine-based business.

Working Waterfront

Fishermen can diversify income, presenters say

Jon Rogers started lobstering in 1967 as a child, with his grandfather. He moved on to gillnetting, shrimping, bluefin fishing and swordfishing on Georges Bank, interspersed with lobster fishing. Still, he said, “I reached a point where I was looking to do something different.” When he heard about oyster and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine-farmed salmon upgraded to ‘good alternative’ at seafood show

By Catherine Schmitt In January, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the institution behind the authoritative Seafood Watch rating system, moved Maine-farmed Atlantic salmon out of the red and into the yellow list of “good alternatives.” According to Seafood Watch, the upgrade is primarily the result of “stringent operating permit mandates” that… SEE MORE

Waves break on the shore at Roque Bluffs

Working Waterfront

Portland proactive on immigration, Wiscasset to vote on traffic plan

Maine’s role in the major party nomination process has come and gone, with the Democrats picking Bernie Sanders and the Republican faithful choosing Ted Cruz. The GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who was endorsed by Gov. Paul LePage, had a predictably dismissive remark about Cruz’s victory, saying the Canadian-born Texas senator… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

State must invest in a digital future

Journalists are taught to give readers a human face to the public issues they write about in their news stories. Sometimes, the reporter has to work at finding a “real person” who benefits from the tax cut or the sewer line extension. Other times, that person practically steps onto the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine’s fertile market, 7,000 miles away

One of the most fertile markets for Maine-made products is flourishing nearly 7,000 miles away. New prosperity and a growing middle class in China has created unprecedented demand for lobster and other Maine-made products. Local government and business leaders are working more aggressively than ever to market Maine products in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stonington rejects one property purchase, approves another

At their town meeting on March 7, Stonington residents voted to reject a proposal to purchase the Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Home property on Thurlow’s Hill for $250,000. The property would have added about 25 parking spaces in town for the many tourists who flock to the area each summer. The proposal… SEE MORE