Front Street Shipyard's multihull boat is still in the design process.

Working Waterfront

Will lobstermen ever embrace multihulls?

Along the Maine coast, spring arrives with an explosion of daffodils, the sound of peepers, and a pilgrimage of spotted salamanders crossing darkened roads. Life also returns to boatyards that provide winter homes to Maine’s lobster fleet, as fishermen ready their boats for another season on the water. To the… SEE MORE

Arlene Cole points to the platforms she uses to measure snowfall.

Working Waterfront

How’s the weather? Arlene Cole will tell you

[caption id="attachment_36880" align="alignnone" width="600"] Arlene Cole has been recording data for the National Weather Service for 58 years.[/caption] Ask Arlene Cole what the weather was on May 13, 1965, and she’ll tell you the high was 62, the low was 43, and 0.19 inches of intermittent rain fell at her… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Feds ordered to re-work whale rules

In a major victory for Maine’s lobster industry, a federal appeals court in June ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to go back to the drawing board and re-work the most recent federal regulation to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Commission approves lobster size rules

An interstate regulatory commission has approved a rule that could change the minimum and maximum sizes for lobster harvesting as a means of protecting the species. The change was adopted May 5 by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster management board. The new rule establishes a trigger mechanism to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Forecasting the Maine coast’s future

Dinosaurs never knew the coast of Maine. As rugged and timeless as it appears, our coast is a relatively new feature, formed and revealed as ice sheets melted away, roughly around the time the seeds of human civilization were sprouting roots around the world. No one could have foreseen back… SEE MORE

The Grindle Point Lighthouse on Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

Grindle Point Lighthouse: A beacon still shining

From the top deck of the Margaret Chase Smith ferry, the first thing that can be seen approaching Islesboro is the Grindle Point Lighthouse. Standing at the northern edge of Gilkey Harbor and next to the ferry pen, the lighthouse greets residents and visitors alike to the island. [caption id="attachment_36164"… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ocean acidification threatens blue economy

In a state renowned for its lobster and shellfish, Mainers understand the importance of a healthy ocean. But you don’t have to spend your mornings on a fishing boat hauling in the day’s catch or even live near the coast to be affected by our changing and warming seas. Ocean… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How a bill becomes law, Maine edition

The other day, I found myself in Augusta attending a legislative committee hearing and conversing about how a bill becomes a law with somebody who was at the legislature for the first time. So here is the short story: Bill ideas, or really just bill titles, need to be submitted… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘On-demand’ gear tested off Massachusetts

This spring, researchers were given an expanded opportunity to test lobster trap gear that eliminates the need for vertical buoy lines in waters traversed by critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Under the direction of NOAA and with permission from the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries, a fleet of ten… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Letters to the editor—’A distinct voice,’ and ‘perception’

A distinct voice To the editor: Phil Crossman and his skin color and the adjectives used to describe it in his Observer column apparently rubbed at least one person in the wrong way (“Unacceptable,” letters to the editor, December/January issue). My spouse and I lived two wonderful years in Maine… SEE MORE