Working Waterfront

The tenuousness of wild places

I'm writing this month's column poolside, a very unusual place for me to be. After not leaving the state for 18 months, Bill, Penrose, and I masked up, braved a transcontinental plane ride, and landed in San Diego in late June. After a few days of Mexican food, record shopping,… SEE MORE

A view of the Abbe Museum exhibition space.

Working Waterfront

‘Stitching Ourselves Together’ tells Native art story

The first part of the title of the gem of a show, “Stitching Ourselves Together: Mi’kmaq Porcupine Quillwork” at Bar Harbor’s Abbe Museum resonates with multiple meanings. Yes, it refers to the 30 or so quillwork objects on display and their intricate stitchwork, but we also learn the cultural implications… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making sense of Maine ‘talking circles’

The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations By Shirley N. Hager and Mawopiyane, University of Toronto Press I confess to being skeptical when I opened The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations, a book of reflections on a series of “gatherings” of white and Native people in Maine and Maritime Canada in the 1980s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Progress through personal connection

Reflections is written by Island 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. When my fellowship began a year ago, I’ll admit I was a bit lost. My host organization, the Downeast Institute… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

We’re asking the public the wrong questions

Journalists spend a good deal of time in public gatherings at which officials solicit—or at least accept—comment on issues of the day. We also inwardly groan and surreptitiously roll our eyes when those public commenters are woefully misinformed. Because we often are deeply immersed in that sewer extension or big-box… SEE MORE

McDonald holds one of her daughters while on a friend's boat in Stonington harbor.

Working Waterfront

The lobstering legislator

PHOTOS BY MICHELE STAPLETON Near the end of our conversation, Genevieve McDonald drops a bit of a bombshell by saying she is applying for law school and hopes to begin classes in the fall of 2022. This comes after she has described her work as a state legislator, her work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Traveling journalists find ‘ingenious’ local initiatives

Despite today’s fraught political discourse at the national level, local communities are finding ways to connect and find common solutions and work toward renewed innovation, compromise, and optimism. That was the message from James and Deborah Fallows, journalists and authors of the 2018 book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into… SEE MORE

Seen here is a visualization of a salmon processing facility and hatchery proposed at the former Maine Fair Trade Lobster facility in Gouldsboro. IMAGE: COURTESY AMERICAN AQUAFARMS

Working Waterfront

Frenchman Bay salmon farm sparks opposition

A proposal by a Norwegian firm to install a large salmon farm in Frenchman Bay is drawing fire from a range of local stakeholders. American Aquafarms was launched in Portland last year by Mikael Rones, CEO of Global AS, which is based in Trondheim, Norway. The firm submitted applications earlier… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

State budget funds working waterfront protection

The state budget adopted in early summer dedicates $40 million to the Land for Maine’s Future program and at least ten percent of that money will be used to preserve working waterfront access for commercial fishing. Historically, the land access preservation program is funded through voter-approved bond referenda, but the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine-based hydropower innovator lands capital

Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC), a developer of renewable power systems that harness energy from free-flowing rivers and tidal currents, announced that it has secured a $20 million investment commitment with an additional $5 million coming in the fall. The investment comes from a consortium led by Canadian Shield Capital in… SEE MORE