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

Working Waterfront

It took a village to run the motel

My mother was possessed of a resolute conviction that people were good. Certainly, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary, she felt my three younger brothers and I were clear examples—kind, compliant youngsters who behaved themselves and did for others at every opportunity. In spite of our best efforts,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The sounds of love are in the air

Once in a while my column ideas just don’t pan out. This is one of those months. I thought I would revisit the golf cart situation on Islesford. I started counting carts on a quick trip to the town dock. There were ten golf carts parked among the trucks and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Castine has rich native history, too

I enjoyed Tom Groening’s photo essay on “Historic Castine” (The Working Waterfront, June). He did capture the sense of the village today. There was, however, one thing that he got wrong. The nations that fought over the place were not just the French, English, Dutch, and American colonists, but also… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Local we know, sustainable we hope

Sunday afternoons, starting the last Sunday in May, a small farmer’s market sets up next to the Up-Island Church (formerly the Free Will Baptist Church, now a preservation society) while cars line Church Turn containing customers ready to pounce on seedlings, vegetables, eggs, honey, all kinds of island-grown fresh stuff.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A deeper meaning of ‘lost at sea’

Several years ago, I visited Ireland with my son, a musician, and one day we ventured to a small coastal village in search of the grave of a famous Irish traditional singer whose voice and repertoire had shaped my son’s first music in a fundamental way. At the local pub,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remote meetings mirror remote island life

I was working in my studio last week with the television on behind me when I heard one commentator say to another, “I think you win the background game today.” I didn’t turn around, but briefly imagined what might create a backdrop so interesting as to “win the day” among… SEE MORE