Kelp harvest underway. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Aquaculture: A bigger picture

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world. The United Nation’s sustainable development goals identify aquaculture as playing a key role in development that safeguards “food security, livelihoods, human dignity, and natural resources.” As we find ourselves needing to produce more food to support a growing population,… SEE MORE

An aerial view of North Haven, looking west. PHOTO: WILLIAM TREVASKIS

Working Waterfront

The spider web that is town government

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. In a town the size of North Haven, all projects, tasks, functions, and dilemmas are interconnected. A select board… SEE MORE

The 2022 Island Institute Island Fellows.

Working Waterfront

Island Institute Fellows have front-row seats

Over the 24 years of Island Institute’s Fellows program, we have learned a lot about what it means to be a part of a community. Island Institute Fellows navigate a complex space where work and life often blend together because their job requires building deep relationships in their community. They… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How a bill becomes law, Maine edition

The other day, I found myself in Augusta attending a legislative committee hearing and conversing about how a bill becomes a law with somebody who was at the legislature for the first time. So here is the short story: Bill ideas, or really just bill titles, need to be submitted… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Clam ‘garden’ sows sustainable future

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. My alarm clock rings, I turn over and look at the time—it’s 4:48 a.m., still dark, very breezy, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Air quality—a tale of two Maines

Maine’s air quality is experiencing mixed results since last year’s report, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 “State of the Air” report. Bangor remains one of only seven cities in the nation that ranks on the cleanest cities lists for all three measures of pollution and is celebrating its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Working the Sea’ is Marine Museum’s summer show

[caption id="attachment_36904" align="aligncenter" width="375"] A dipnet full of scup, or porgies, rests on the trap boat gunwale as Tony Coccoro repeats the endless task of repairing tears in the weir net. PHOTO: MILSON MOORE, NATIONAL FISHERMAN COLLECTION[/caption] The Penobscot Marine Museum’s 2023 exhibit “Working the Sea” will feature photographs from… SEE MORE

Front Street Shipyard's multihull boat is still in the design process.

Working Waterfront

Will lobstermen ever embrace multihulls?

Along the Maine coast, spring arrives with an explosion of daffodils, the sound of peepers, and a pilgrimage of spotted salamanders crossing darkened roads. Life also returns to boatyards that provide winter homes to Maine’s lobster fleet, as fishermen ready their boats for another season on the water. To the… SEE MORE

Arlene Cole points to the platforms she uses to measure snowfall.

Working Waterfront

How’s the weather? Arlene Cole will tell you

[caption id="attachment_36880" align="alignnone" width="600"] Arlene Cole has been recording data for the National Weather Service for 58 years.[/caption] Ask Arlene Cole what the weather was on May 13, 1965, and she’ll tell you the high was 62, the low was 43, and 0.19 inches of intermittent rain fell at her… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Feds ordered to re-work whale rules

In a major victory for Maine’s lobster industry, a federal appeals court in June ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to go back to the drawing board and re-work the most recent federal regulation to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals… SEE MORE