Working Waterfront

Put a price on what’s poisoning our atmosphere

By Eric Toder Rising carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and other activities that release greenhouse gases threaten the future well-being of all of us. These emissions warm the planet, raise sea levels, shift rainfall patterns, boost storm intensity, and increase the risk of sudden climate change. They pose a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Voters approve Bristol Falls Dam preservation, fish ladder

By Tom Walsh The “Dam Strong” bumper stickers that have recently surfaced throughout the Lincoln County community of Bristol have now given way to a new message: “Dam Right.” A special referendum on July 24 saw nearly 90 percent of Bristol residents who cast paper ballots approve repairs to the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Coastal Cleanup begins Sept. 15

Registration is now open for Maine’s Coastweek Coastal Cleanup which begins Saturday, Sept. 15 and runs through Saturday, Sept. 22. One of Maine’s largest volunteer events, the Coastal Cleanup provides an opportunity for people of all ages to keep Maine’s coastal shoreline and associated waterways clean. Each year over a thousand participants clean… SEE MORE

Diane Blanchette takes the first charge from Ellsworth’s new electric vehicle charger

Working Waterfront

Electric vehicle charging stations added to key corridors

On June 26, Ellsworth City Council Chairman Marc Blanchette backed up his plug-in hybrid electric car to the city’s first publically available Level 2 electric vehicle charging station, located under a shady copse at Merrill Park on Water Street. Blanchette’s wife, Diane, had the honor of taking the first plug-in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bristol voters consider dam replacement, repair

By Tom Walsh A patchwork quilt of intertwined issues—social, political, environmental, economic, and public safety—surround the July 24 written ballot referendum that will decide what’s to become of the Bristol Falls Dam, an iconic landmark within the Lincoln County community of Bristol since 1917. Debate has been simmering since 2001… SEE MORE

Teacher Kathryn Meyer and student Zack Harvey hold a big lobster.

Working Waterfront

Students, teachers travel to PEI to compare fishing notes

PHOTO: VAL PEACOCK Zack Harvey of Swan's Island at sunrise on a boat. By Val Peacock The annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport offers opportunities for networking among those in the business. This year, a chance encounter with a Prince Edward Island lobsterman at the gathering led to a trip… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Salmon from a fish tank

On the Fourth of July, many a Maine family once sat down to a traditional meal of fresh salmon, garden peas, and new potatoes dug from the warm earth. A century ago, Maine salmon were known around the world as being among the best of seafoods. In the late 18th… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Reading the ‘priestess of nature’ who took on the ‘elixirs of death’

By Tom Walsh If you don’t know much—or even anything at all—about Rachel Carson, here’s your chance. The Library of America recruited the help of editor Sandra Steingraber in recently publishing a new retrospective on marine biologist Rachel Carson and her seminal role in jump-starting environmentalism in post-World War II… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Soft-shell clam population decline calls for cooperation

By Susie Arnold, Jessica Gribbon Joyce and Roger Stephenson Mainers likely have heard about the precipitous decline in soft-shell clam landings over the last five years. While the fishery remains the third most valuable fishery in the state at over $12 million, licenses have declined over the last several decades… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands look to neighbors for survival

Island communities survive when they work together. I experienced this alongside leaders on Long Island in Casco Bay and in dialogue with the former president of Kiribati. Spend time on Long Island and you will have the sense that anything is possible. In June, the Island Institute held its board… SEE MORE