Central Wharf in Portland. FILE PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Portland’s ‘Big Dig’ gets underway, finally

[caption id="attachment_46664" align="alignnone" width="700"] A dredger loads dredged materials onto a barge near the Maine State Pier. PHOTO: COURTESY ERNO BONEBAKKER[/caption] Work has begun on a long-awaited project to remove hundreds of millions of pounds of contaminated muck from around wharves, marinas, boatyards, and public boat launches in Portland Harbor.… SEE MORE

A boat arrives at the Monhegan pier. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Building higher on Monhegan

Facing the community now is the decision of how to move forward—forward toward a response to the increasingly powerful winter storms and the growing summer traffic. The main thing I am considering is how the changes will last for generations and affect the function of the island in every season. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A poor report card from Maine’s ocean

Arctic warming and accelerating ice melt are leading to changes in global ocean circulation. With a northward shift of the Gulf Stream and a retreat of the Labrador Current, more warm, salty, low-nutrient Gulf Stream water is entering the Gulf of Maine. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Life prepares for spring

Last year, I got myself a Chanukah present, a little thank-you for making it through the year. It was a vertical grow light array, two shelves and four lights. It's next to my desk as I write this column, and on the top shelf I have a tray of just-sprouted… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Susan Webster and Stuart Kestenbaum harmonize

Kestenbaum has noted a sense of mortality in some of these poems. Two pieces titled “Eternity” address the end of life, “some pa/rt of me adrift/gone floating o/ver this sweet/and sad world." SEE MORE

A shipwreck on the Passagassawakeag River invited archeological field work in September. PHOTO: COURTESY BELFAST MARINE INSTITUTE

Working Waterfront

Belfast school launches Marine Institute

That academic year saw the acquisition of an on-campus wet lab with a 500-gallon water tanker and kelp-growing materials, as well as a limited-purpose aquaculture license… SEE MORE

Cod drying on a Newfoundland shore. ADOBE STOCK

Working Waterfront

How Newfoundland fishermen protected their own

It was into this environment that the Fishermen's Protective Union was initiated by Newfoundland businessman William Ford Coaker. He recognized that the system meant fishermen had no direct access to markets or control over prices. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Storm-related counseling available

StrengthenME, a program of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, is offering free, confidential, and anonymous mental health and spiritual care services funded through by FEMA in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. These services are available to individuals, families, and groups in need of… SEE MORE

A seawall being built into a dune at Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York.

Working Waterfront

Rising seas—how high?

Last month, a group gathered in a conference room beneath the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington D.C. They were there to discuss a question that’s relevant to all coastal residents: We know climate change is causing sea level to rise, but just how much will the water go up? The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

York County kelp firm wins grant

U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a value-added producer grant to Cold Current Kelp in York County. The company grows, harvests, processes, and produces value-added products from kelp raised offshore in Kittery. The business will match the $24,700 planning grant with another $25,000 and invest the total to develop business… SEE MORE