Working Waterfront

Our golden age of lobster continues, but…

Last year was disappointing for the lobster fishery, with many fishermen estimating their earnings down an estimated 20 percent to 30 percent compared with 2016. But a look at the longer term picture reveals the lobster fishery as bountiful over recent decades, making it unique both within our own history… SEE MORE

Robbie Begin and his crew bring a purse seine full of pogies up alongside his boat Pogie Patrol.

Working Waterfront

Return of menhaden, bigger quotas, good news for Maine

Wherever there’s an abundance of Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast, there, too, is an abundance of other wildlife—humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins, striped bass and bluefish, and bald eagles and osprey. That’s because menhaden, commonly called “pogies” by fishermen, are a key forage species. “When we saw the pogies… SEE MORE

Belted Galloways graze in East Blue Hill at the head of Blue Hill Bay.

Working Waterfront

Estaury Beat: Plastic pollution, Union River dam, Sheepscot River…

Researchers study plastic pollution in Blue Hill Bay Scientists working for the Marine & Environmental Research Institute have been studying plastic pollution since 2012, and this work was continued by two interns who presented their findings in December. Widespread throughout the world’s oceans, “microplastics” are microscopic (smaller than five millimeters)… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Norway firm plans $400 million land-based salmon farm in Belfast

From left: Elizabeth Ransom (Ransom Consulting), Lars-Henrik Røren (Chairman of NAF), Sen. Angus King, Erik Heim (CEO and founder of Nordic Aquafarms), and Peter DelGreco and Ashley Pringle (Maine & Co). A Norway-based company is planning to build the world’s largest land-based Atlantic salmon-raising operation in Belfast, the firm’s CEO… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Public ownership of Maine’s shore: courts got it wrong

By Orlando E. Delogu In my new book, Maine’s Beaches Are Public Property, I argue that the state’s highest court, the Law Court, got it wrong in its 1986 and 1989 rulings. The court should have concluded that title to Maine’s intertidal lands is not held by adjacent upland owners,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Three takes on making connections

A letter recently landed on my desk from a reader of The Working Waterfront. The man, who lives in New Harbor, receives the newspaper in his mailbox; we mail the paper to everyone on Maine’s 15 year-round islands, as well to all of Mount Desert Island, the Blue Hill-Stonington peninsula,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island mud inspires Vinalhaven man’s skin-care business

Inspired by the natural resources of his island home, Vinalhaven’s Willie Drury has launched a line of skin care products he’s calling Maine Magic Mud. Drury, 25, returned home after graduating college with a plan to go fishing. He had always been interested in starting a business, but didn't know… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Portland pub owners recognized for Casco Bay advocacy

Rick Frantz and Jennifer Fox are part of Portland’s vibrant waterfront scene. They own Andy’s Old Port Pub on Commercial Street, and they take the ferry home each night to Great Diamond Island. Casco Bay is literally their backyard. On Jan. 23, as more than 125 volunteers and supporters of Friends of Casco… SEE MORE

A saltwater marsh like this one help absorb storm surge and provide wildlife habitat.

Working Waterfront

Maine’s salt marshes are disappearing

Salt marshes are disappearing. Scientists, who say these tidal wetlands are critical components of coastal environments, have been sounding the alarm for years. Salt marshes purify water, protect coastal infrastructure from storm surges, are nurseries for juvenile fish and shellfish, and provide important habitat for rare plants and coastal birds. They also link… SEE MORE

A scallop dragger at its mooring on a cold

Working Waterfront

DEP program helps fishermen, boatyards pay for new engines

It’s not every day the government pays for nearly half of a new engine for a commercial boat, but that’s the case for owners of some vessels. Since 2009, over 100 fishing boats, schooners, ferries, whale watch boats, and even a tug boat have been repowered with grants from the… SEE MORE