Four images by renowned photographer Kosti Ruohomaa, shooting for the Maine Sardine Council. PHOTOS: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

From weir to can

In 1951, the Maine Sardine Council hired Finnish American Kosti Ruohomaa to document the sardine industry. The Maine Legislature created the council that year to promote high standards for the sardine industry and made it responsible for grading and inspections as well. The sardine industry was complex; one photo could… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When settling in, home comes in small moments

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. After three days of orientation as a new Island Institute Fellow, I hit the streets—the main street of Blue… SEE MORE

Passengers board a Casco Bay Lines ferry in Portland. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

From here to there: why transportation matters

The people who live on Maine’s 15 unbridged, year-round islands are inspiring and a model of resilience. Despite the many logistical and resource-based challenges they experience from living separated from the mainland, they find solutions through cooperation and pure genius. Perhaps no other topic highlights this better than island transportation.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Creativity thrives in salty, island environments

The sun is sinking and fills the kitchen with an orange glow, signaling the end of a long week. Lobster traps hauled and stacked, gear shifted from one spot in the ocean to another. Lunches made in the dark and fishing boots brought in to dry. Nights of nodding off… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saco Bay conference addressed timely concerns

More than 100 people attended the second annual SOS Saco Bay Coastal Conference on Sept. 27. The full day conference featured classroom sessions, a trade show, and outdoor field stations on the beach. Save Our Shores Saco Bay, a non-profit advocacy group committed to the restoration and preservation of its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Port Clyde’s loss is seared in pain

We can watch live satellite images of a typhoon on the other side of the planet. We can record thousands of photographs in a device not much bigger than a deck of playing cards. We can inject a genetic replica of a virus to boost immunity. But something as elemental… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine islands are the frontier

For those of you who track island life, you’ll likely know there are 15 year-round, unbridged islands along the Maine coast. Distinguished by their differences more than their commonalities, these islands span the coast from Cliff Island, the smallest of the Casco Bay islands, to Matinicus, the most distant island… SEE MORE

Diana Young’s "Boom Island," (2023) tempera, 16 by 20 inches. PHOTO: MICHAEL HALLAHAN

Working Waterfront

Diana Young’s Penobscot River view

In the half century Diana Young has lived in Bangor—she and husband Jim moved there in 1973—she has painted all over the Queen City, so many different scenes she should be declared painter laureate. Her views are always animated, full of a kind of motion that often compels one to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When teens can say ‘I know Maine’

In 7th grade Gavin Bradstreet looked like a choir-boy angel with a moon-shaped face and round glasses, but looks were deceptive and the school found him “a handful.” Now he is on his way to college, with greater aspirations than he or his family could have imagined seven years ago.… SEE MORE

Strike at Bath Iron Works, July 1, 1985. PHOTO: GEN WILLMAN

Working Waterfront

Shipbuilding legacy strengthened by unions

Maine’s proficient, hardworking, and regionally low-paid laborers helped to secure a competitive edge in the shipbuilding industry of the 19th century, contributing to the state’s significance as a center of American shipbuilding and fleet ownership. Like many historic narratives, this shipbuilding prominence has often been examined through the lens of… SEE MORE