Working Waterfront

The wrath that follows environmental sin

Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? Bill McKibben; Henry Holt and Co., New York, 2019; 300 pages, hard cover, $28. Review by Dana Wilde Recently, a lobsterman from Swan’s Island told a reporter that, despite scientists’ finding that climate change has driven lobster populations north from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine Islands Coalition—a much-needed network

By Roger Berle The Maine Islands Coalition, or MIC, was formed in 2003 when residents of some year-round Maine Coast islands felt insecure as individual communities dealing with a series of external threats. In Casco Bay at the time, proposals to build liquid natural gas terminals loomed as a major… SEE MORE

The Matanuska is designed to carry 450 passengers and has a vehicle capacity of approximately 83

Working Waterfront

Stranded: Alaskan islanders see sharp cuts to ferry service

By Ari Snider Even under normal circumstances, getting to and from Tenakee Springs, a small island town in Southeast Alaska, is no cakewalk. Alaska Seaplanes flies twice daily to Juneau, the capital city, but that’ll run you upwards of $300 roundtrip, and storms can ground planes for days or even… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

From March madness to marathon: seeing possibility within pandemic

By Rob Snyder Along the coast, March madness is a state of mind linked to living off diminishing savings from last summer, the uncertainty of livelihoods linked to the next tourism and lobstering seasons, isolation, and bracing for a few final snowstorms. Most years, this lasts through April. During an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island complexity explained by four islanders

By Tom Groening Consider the extremes in how islands are portrayed in literature, film, and on TV. The island setting often is used to show how the very best of community values can thrive, or how the very worst of human nature can fester. In Richard Russo’s Empire Falls, the protagonist’s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What ‘resilient leadership in times of crisis’ means

By Rob Snyder Island and coastal communities, and the people who care about them near and far, must pull together right now. Tourism and lobstering, our key economic drivers, are in peril. The islands and coast rely on an annual influx of $4 billion in tourism revenue, earned primarily between… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fishermen’s group wants to raise mental health awareness

By Wanda Curtis The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association has won a $5,000 grant to promote mental health awareness in the commercial fishing industry. Monique Coombs, director of marine programs for the nonprofit, said the funds will be used to develop informational materials to assist commercial fishermen in managing stress, anxiety,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Which is more accurate—a mirror or a painting?

By Meghan Grabill When I moved here over a year ago, people asked me what connection I had to Maine. What brought me here? My response: I had visited once as a teenager on a family trip and when a job opportunity presented itself on the coast of Maine I… SEE MORE

A view of Nantucket village from the shore.

Working Waterfront

Nantaska—The ‘islands’ of Nantucket and Alaska

By Crocker Snow Jr. The tiny northeastern seacoast island of Nantucket, 43 square miles, and the giant, “Upper 49th” state of Alaska, 663,237 square miles, are about as dissimilar as could be. They don’t share the same boarding house at all geographically, demographically, economically, and culturally. Yet the two lands,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Monhegan recognized with Community Champion award

For a small island, Monhegan has faced some big challenges in recent years: the prospect of floating wind turbines just off its shore; a freshwater aquifer threatened by saltwater incursion; an aging diesel-generator powered electric grid; the lack of high-speed internet. But that small island—whose year-round population numbers under 50—has… SEE MORE