Category: Environment

Working Waterfront

Halibut—a huge, thrilling, and tasty fish

“Once you’ve caught a halibut, you’ll never be the same, if you like fishing,” said Erik Waterman, a commercial fisherman who lives in South Thomaston and fishes out of Spruce Head. Waterman was talking about wild-caught Atlantic halibut, one of the largest fish in the Gulf of Maine and the… SEE MORE
Camden King Tide

Working Waterfront

Federal flood insurance evolved, but not for the best

[caption id="attachment_24986" align="alignleft" width="300"] The King Tide in Camden.[/caption] In the February/March issue of The Working Waterfront, Peter Neill of the World Ocean Observatory suggested using flood insurance premiums to reduce risk instead of repeatedly rebuilding damaged structures (“Rethinking insurance as investment, not pay-out”). The concept of diverting insurance premiums… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Is ropeless fishing ready for prime time?

[caption id="attachment_24983" align="alignleft" width="300"] PHOTO: COURTESY BLUE PLANET STRATEGIES[/caption] As the North Atlantic right whale population declines rapidly, regulators have proposed or enacted a series of closures of significant areas of lobster fishing grounds off the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada to protect the endangered whales from entanglement… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

State signals support of offshore wind

Earlier this year, Gov. Janet Mills announced her terms for the back-in-motion effort to site wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine. She is asking the legislature to back a ten-year moratorium on wind projects in the waters managed by the state—those within three miles of shore—and she affirmed her… SEE MORE
A park ranger uses a mobile device to verify a visitor's reservation at the entrance to the Cadillac Summit Road during an 18-day pilot in October. PHOTO: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/JOHN KELLY

Working Waterfront

Acadia officials optimistic about 2021 visitation

  [caption id="attachment_24334" align="alignnone" width="725"] Seen here is a rendering of Phase 2 construction of the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. PHOTO: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE[/caption] Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider is optimistic that visitation this year could be at or near normal levels, as the vaccination rollout boosts traveler… SEE MORE
Josh Rowan and Erin Desmond are restoring Hindu in Thomaston.

Working Waterfront

Restoring Hindu

What could be better than a vessel that encapsulates the timelessness of a love story, the enchantment of a fairy tale, and the mystical allure of a legend? Well, how about one with the spirit of Maine in its every fiber. [caption id="attachment_24228" align="alignright" width="700"] Josh Rowan and Erin Desmond.… SEE MORE