Working Waterfront

Towns fear, fight aquaculture expansion

There’s a new war brewing along the Maine coast, and the enemy is what some perceive as the uncontrolled spread of aquaculture. According to the Department of Marine Resources, between 2017 and 2021, aquaculture leases in Maine waters increased from about 110 to approximately 185. The total acreage encompassed by… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Climate is the real culprit in whale saga

In following the rollercoaster of how new regulations designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale will impact Maine’s lobster fishery and the communities the industry supports, two recent announcements stuck out to me. One is the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) five-year review of the species. The whales are… SEE MORE

A working pier in Jonesport. FILE PHOTO: LESLIE BOWMAN

Working Waterfront

Op-ed: Jonesport fish farm threatens Downeast waters

The pristine and productive marine environment in Chandler and Englishman Bays where Jonesport, Roque Bluffs, and Roque Island are situated is now threatened by the plans of Kingfish Maine to build an industrial-sized, land-based fish farm in Jonesport. I am part of Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation, a family community,… SEE MORE

Those attending the Island Institute's Climate Symposium listen to a presenter. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Climate symposium centered on conversation

What if a conference for climate practitioners and problem solvers was based on conversation? We answered this question in September with around 140 gathered in Portland to hear—and discuss—climate-related presentations from a wide variety of those working on such issues. And we learned that it works. Equal time and focus… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to shrink your seafood footprint

Farmed oysters, along with their cousins the clam and the mussel, are extremely carbon-light. SEE MORE

A lobsterman unloads his gear from his boat in Bar Harbor on a late October Sunday morning. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Fewer cruise ship passengers in Bar Harbor

Along with voting in Maine’s gubernatorial and legislative races, residents of some coastal towns made choices on local issues. In Bar Harbor, an ordinance to more strictly regulate cruise ships passed, now limiting 1,000 passengers to come into town each day. Enforcement may remain elusive, though. In the Boothbay area,… SEE MORE

Signs on the South Ridge trail to the summit of Cadillac Mountain warn hikers off sensitive vegetation. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Acadia is a dynamic science laboratory

Schoodic Institute’s Catherine Schmitt noted that “Acadia has this incredible legacy of science,” going back to before its founding, and that a historical baseline for seascape and forestry is available. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Study: lobster has small carbon footprint

In the spring of 2021, the Island Institute undertook a carbon footprint study with Maine-based seafood company and Island Institute partner Luke’s Lobster. It was the first time greenhouse gas emissions were measured along one company’s supply chain of Gulf of Maine lobster. Both the Institute, publisher of The Working… SEE MORE

A view of Somes Sound on Mount Desert Island.

Working Waterfront

UMaine study finds ‘tick clusters’ in Acadia

The researchers collected blacklegged ticks at 114 sites across the park over two years and mapped that data SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Transitions and transformation on MDI

When neighbors talk to neighbors, focused on solutions, we build momentum by connecting based on what we value. SEE MORE