A lobster boat at its mooring off Great Cranberry Island.

Working Waterfront

Mills offers relief for fishermen, ocean farmers

Amid high costs, Gov. Janet Mills announced that her administration is taking action to deliver relief for Maine’s commercial fishermen and ocean farmers. The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) will use $8.3 million in federal funding to reimburse resident commercial fishermen, dealers, processors, and those in the aquaculture sector… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ticks surviving cold, UMaine research finds

Winter cold may not be what’s keeping ticks from spreading north in Maine, a new University of Maine study finds. The research shows that blacklegged tick nymphs are able to survive inhospitably cold winter temperatures with insulation from leaf litter and snowpack, which may lead to an expansion of their… SEE MORE

An aerial view of the shore at Camp Ellis in Saco.

Working Waterfront

Shelter from the storm

Financial assistance may soon be on the way for construction of a new jetty off a breakwater at Camp Ellis in Saco in hopes of mitigating severe beach erosion the seaside community has contended with for generations. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed the Water Resources Development… SEE MORE

Community Shellfish FILE PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Reviving lobster pounds as oyster farms

Few places exemplify the resilient and sustainable coastal communities than the aptly named Community Shellfish in Bremen. The seafood distributor connects local independent fishermen to a wider market hungry for high-quality lobsters, clams, and oysters. The harbor, fueling station, and fully equipped dock at Community Shellfish’s facility on the Medomak… SEE MORE

Chebeague Island’s Stone Wharf provides a landing for some of the island’s ferries. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Islands, Bar Harbor win grants

The Department of Marine Resources has awarded $202,500 in Shore and Harbor Planning grants to Bar Harbor, Chebeague Island, Long Island, Thomaston, and the Greater Portland Council of Governments. These awards, funded by DMR’s Maine Coastal Program and NOAA, will be used for harbor management plans, documenting and increasing public… SEE MORE

From left, Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca, Executive Director Will Everitt, President of the Board of Directors of Friends of Casco Bay Andrew Marsters, standing on the deck of Friends' research vessel, R/V Joseph E. Payne.

Working Waterfront

Friends of Casco Bay names new director

Will Everitt has been hired as the executive director of Friends of Casco Bay after serving as the organization’s communications and development director for 15 years. Everitt, who was the unanimous choice of the organization’s board of directors, has led the marine advocacy organization’s development and fundraising since 2008 and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Friends of Acadia names new leader

With a shortage of affordable housing impacting the ability of Acadia National Park to hire enough seasonal workers, Friends of Acadia is making the issue a top priority. “If we recognize that Acadia National Park is one of our national gems, doesn’t it deserve the most talented workforce in the… SEE MORE

Rockweed, bagged and piled at a Hancock Point boatyard. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Sharing the weight of rockweed science

On a recent Wednesday morning, a small group of volunteers walked the shoreline in Lamoine with buckets, mesh bags, large square plastic picture frames, and fish-weighing scales. Carefully picking their way across the slippery seaweed, they laid out transects, and began to count and weigh the rockweed, hefting pound after… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Young lobsters not surviving first weeks

There is a crustacean conundrum in the Gulf of Maine. Despite increased numbers of lobsters being born in recent years, the number of adolescents has declined. Something is affecting the survival rates of lobsters in their first few weeks of life, and researchers from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and… SEE MORE

A Kosti Ruohomaa photo from the Penobscot Marine Museum’s collection shows a herring fisherman.

Working Waterfront

An outsider’s sharp eye on Maine

[caption id="attachment_32007" align="alignleft" width="350"] A Kosti Ruohomaa photo from the Penobscot Marine Museum’s collection shows a herring fisherman.[/caption] A herring fisherman or “herringer” of Hugo Lehtinen’s crew pulls on a line from a purse seine while standing in a wooden skiff in Penobscot Bay in the photo featured in this… SEE MORE