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

The town parking lot after a storm surge in 2015 storm.

Working Waterfront

Damariscotta improves waterfront in face of rising seas

Damariscotta is moving forward with projects aimed at improving its waterfront. The work comes despite the Jan. 4 “king tide,” the highest tide of the year, and the associated storm surge which flooded a municipal parking lot and the lower levels of two downtown businesses. Improvements include a new facility… SEE MORE

A kayaker explores one of the islands on the trail.

Working Waterfront

Shared mooring: Maine Island Trail, Island Institute born of same values

By Doug Welch The Maine Island Trail Association marks its 30th anniversary this month, and I believe it is important to look back at our roots and the organization that once spawned and still inspires us—the Island Institute. This story begins a “generation” before the Island Institute in the 1970s and… SEE MORE

Cars fill the parking spaces at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

Working Waterfront

Reservations for Acadia visits top proposal in plan

A reservation system for visiting Acadia National Park is among the top proposals in the National Park Service’s draft transportation plan, released April 26. The plan has been in the works since 2015, due to traffic congestion from increased visitation. On the weekend of July 4, 2017, for example, the… SEE MORE

A crew member cleans balconies on a cruise ship docked at Portland’s Ocean Gateway in 2014.

Working Waterfront

CruiseMaine evaluating potential, impact

The cruise ship industry’s growing interest in visiting Maine’s harbor towns is being hailed as opportunity by some, and branded as threat by others. While communities like Bar Harbor and Rockland are debating the relative merits of this part of the tourism economy, there’s no denying its size and impact.… SEE MORE