A view of Camden Harbor as seen from the shore near Laite Park.

Working Waterfront

Coastal access: ‘Interests in tension’

Maine’s 5,400-mile coastline is one of its most valuable assets. It creates a living for fishermen, a powerful draw for tourists and a quality of life that is possible in few other places. Over the past two decades, public access to the coast has been challenged in court across the… SEE MORE

Artisan vegetables: Sparkplug Farm at the Vinalhaven Farmers Market.

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven’s Sparkplug Farm seeks new operator

A bright October sun had me squinting at the landscape—almost a mirage with its fields of flourishing vegetation. Like summer, I was thinking. But to farmers John Wright and Sara Hodges, joining me in a long row of arugula, it was perfect weather for harvesting greens at Sparkplug Farm, situated… SEE MORE

Sailboats and people on Chebeague Island shore.

Working Waterfront

Public support needed to preserve public access

As Maine’s coastline changes hands, access to the shore becomes more contentious and litigious. Access is controversial, and this is especially true on islands. What happens when legal claims clash with local traditions? While the Colonial Ordinance—the document on which current law is derived—allows for fishing, fowling and navigating in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

National monument process rankles fishermen

A land map of the United States reveals a patchwork of federally protected areas, while a map of the Atlantic Ocean, until recently, had no protected areas. That changed in September when President Barack Obama set aside an ecologically rich swath of waters southeast of Cape Cod for a new… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On the record with… WCSH-TV’s meteorologist Keith Carson

In March of 1993, the U.S. East Coast experienced what has been called the Storm of the Century. This category 5 storm created havoc with high winds and coastal flooding, dumping up to 20 inches or more of snow across much of New England, resulting in deaths from Florida to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine and the Arctic: Opening waters emblem of environmental disaster, economic opportunity

Sen. Angus King’s analogy succinctly set the scene. “It’s like the sudden discovery of the Mediterranean Sea,” King said, an early speaker in a day-long forum devoted to the Arctic at Portland’s University of Southern Maine on Oct. 3. Though the Arctic region has been extensively explored, the rapid melting… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fisheries advocate Alden named White House ‘champion’

Robin Alden, a former commissioner of the state’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and current director of the Stonington-based Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC), has been named a White House champion of change for her work on sustainable seafood issues. The honor was bestowed in a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 7.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

UMaine Machias students grows her own coral

Coral reefs make up less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, yet they provide shelter for as much as a quarter of sea life. “They’re a huge keystone ecosystem for the ocean,” explains Clair Aldrich, a senior at the University of Maine at Machias. “They’re so important.” So important—especially… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making a living from a changing sea

By Heather Deese, Ph. D. This summer I had dozens of conversations about the changing Gulf of Maine and how these changes play out in our local fisheries. Many conversations took place in community halls and theaters during evening “A Climate of Change” events featuring four short films produced by the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stonington, Blue Hill area fishermen want to close lobster zone

Zone C has shut down its open-entry system into the lobster fishery. The state’s lobster fishery is divided into seven management zones, arrayed in a line along the coast from the Canadian border to the New Hampshire border. Zone C is the third one heading from east to west, and… SEE MORE