Working Waterfront

Islesford, a birder’s paradise

On Little Cranberry Island, the ever-present birds are one of the biggest reasons I love my life here. The company of my fluffy little friends keeps me entertained throughout the year. Our two bird feeders attract all the year-round faithful and quite a few summer visitors. One of the feeders… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bike lanes and a bumpy transition

The driver had strayed too close to the curb and caught her wheel on the sharp edge, it seemed. Not terribly surprising, as the street had recently been narrowed to make way for what’s quickly becoming the third rail of local politics in my area—bike lanes. SEE MORE

Walt Golet, left, and Kay Zipp capture, tag, and release Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Maine for research in August 2023. PHOTO: COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MAINE

Working Waterfront

Study examined tuna’s new food sources

Maine’s coastal communities have been hooked on the Atlantic bluefin tuna since at least the late 1880s—first as bycatch, until the 1930s, when the fish became a prized target in fishing tournaments. Through the subsequent decades, bluefin tuna have and continue to support working waterfronts in Maine and beyond. Despite… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Herring Gut honors Bill Mook, Chris Soctomah

The Herring Gut Coastal Science Center has announced that Bill Mook, owner of Mook Sea Farm, and Chris Soctomah, fisheries biologist for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik Environmental Department, are the recipients of the 2025 Phyllis Wyeth Visionary Award for Excellence in Marine Science, Education, and Trades. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Powering the pine tree state

High costs are driven by factors like aging infrastructure, a growing electrical demand, and an energy mix heavily reliant on natural gas—a fuel prone to sharp price swings. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Scientists now predicting whale movement

The places North Atlantic right whales are foraging are shifting because the changing climate alters ocean currents, the scientists said, which in turn affects where whale food will show up. Being able to more easily determine where North Atlantic right whales are going to go ahead of time is crucial for both the whales’ survival and for the industries... SEE MORE

A close-up image of a scallop. PHOTO: COURTESY UMAINE

Working Waterfront

Next ocean farming crop—scallops

Building off a four-year study published in the spring, which compared the effectiveness of two different Atlantic sea-scallop farming techniques, UMaine researchers further analyzed the economic advantages and disadvantages of the same two methods of scallop aquaculture. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mills highlights housing wins

The lack of affordable housing impacts much of the state’s economy, and much of the economy impacts housing. That was one of the conundrums emerging from the Maine Affordable Housing Conference on Sept. 9 in Bangor. When housing options are few or too expensive, the workforce—which is already facing generational… SEE MORE

This packing table is a featured original artifact that is part of Penobscot Marine Museum’s Sardineland exhibit.

Working Waterfront

Marine museum celebrates the humble sardine

The Penobscot Marine Museum invites the community to SardineFest 2025—a free, all-day celebration of Maine’s rich sardine industry history—on Saturday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m in downtown Searsport. SardineFest has been generously sponsored by Hamilton Marine. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Aquaculture reviews accelerated by using ROV

Site assessments using the ROV require fewer staff which frees up personnel to work on other required tasks like writing site reports. DMR estimates that the ROV has saved the aquaculture division approximately 600 hours of staff time. SEE MORE