Working Waterfront

Operation Game Thief offers reward in ‘major’ trap molestation case

Maine Operation Game Thief is offering a reward of $11,000 for information that helps authorities bring the person or people responsible for a major lobster trap molesting case near Jeffrey’s Ledge to justice. A Maine Marine Patrol investigation, which began Monday, Feb. 22, revealed that approximately 200 lobster traps had been hauled by someone… SEE MORE

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Lobster license bill wins committee approval

The legislature’s Marine Resources Committee voted unanimously Feb. 24 to advance legislation at improving the efficiency of Maine’s lobster licensing system, speeding up the rate of turnover, shortening wait lists and encouraging young people to continue Maine’s lobstering tradition. “This has been a contentious problem for a long time, and lobsters… SEE MORE

Maine Maritime Academy vessels docked at the campus in Castine.

Working Waterfront

Winter training cruise imparts laptop lesson

People who are not accustomed to living on the water and on the high seas are often painfully aware of the slightest motion a boat or ship makes. Just look for the gray or green pallor on their faces and the expression that says, “Are we there yet?” And those… SEE MORE

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Remembering a lost fishery, and grandparents

My grandmother Edith Johnson Searles packed sardines in Lubec at a time when that prosperous town hosted 23 sardine (herring) packing plants. My grandfather, Henry Searles, was a native of Canada’s nearby Campobello Island, who moved across the sound to marry my grandmother and live with her in South Lubec.… SEE MORE

A memorial service was held in Rockland for two of the area's victims in the El Faro sinking.

Working Waterfront

What doomed the El Faro?

Battered by Hurricane Joaquin as it traveled from Jacksonville, Florida to Puerto Rico, the 790-foot cargo ship El Faro sank east of the Bahamas on Oct. 1. Thirty-three mariners perished, including five graduates of Maine Maritime Academy and two from Massachusetts Maritime Academy. As is the nature of sea disasters,… SEE MORE

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Washington County looks for boost in Bold Coast Byway

A small harbor west of Cutler. A plan to polish and market a 125-mile-long driving route through the portion of coastal Washington County known as the Bold Coast is… well, bold. The plan was drafted after the route—Milbridge to Eastport—was designated a scenic byway by the state Department of Transportation… SEE MORE

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Lobster promotion reaches chefs, White House, China

When lobster fisherman Steve Train traveled to New York City on a two-day marketing junket last summer, he found the experience was an effective way to introduce Maine’s “new shell” lobster to high-end chefs and national food media outlets. Train, traveling from his home on Long Island, off Portland, joined… SEE MORE

The shore at Roque Bluffs in Washington County.

Working Waterfront

Washington County’s population challenges point to immigration

Washington County is going to be a very different place in 20 years. Over half of our population is older than 45. Almost a fifth is 65 or older. Only a small percentage of the people who are now middle-aged or elderly will be working in 2036, and there just… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Marine mammal protections evolving with environment

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. A number of large whales spend time in the Gulf of Maine, as do seals, porpoises and dolphins. The Gulf of Maine also is home to other species that garner special attention and protection, including seabirds, sea turtles and threatened… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven’s maritime work remembered in photo

If books about Vinalhaven’s history were acorns, then readers could squirrel away some volumes now to enjoy over winter hibernation. One of those acorns could be a recently published book of photographs, Vinalhaven Island’s Maritime Industries, part of the “Images of America” series from Arcadia Publishing. Cynthia Burns Martin, a… SEE MORE