Four images by renowned photographer Kosti Ruohomaa, shooting for the Maine Sardine Council. PHOTOS: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

From weir to can

In 1951, the Maine Sardine Council hired Finnish American Kosti Ruohomaa to document the sardine industry. The Maine Legislature created the council that year to promote high standards for the sardine industry and made it responsible for grading and inspections as well. The sardine industry was complex; one photo could… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When settling in, home comes in small moments

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. After three days of orientation as a new Island Institute Fellow, I hit the streets—the main street of Blue… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

When Vinalhaven had (lots of) fish

When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community By Janna Malamud Smith (DownEast Books, 2023) I’ve been talking about When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community on Vinalhaven with everyone I know. Even at a recent funeral. The story… SEE MORE

Caitlin and Ethan Spaulding and their son Forrest pose on the shore of their Islesboro farm. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Crab to bird—invasive species becomes chicken feed

Two years ago, Ethan Spaulding, 30, his wife Caitlin, 26, and their son Forrest, 6, left the rich soils of Indiana to start a farm on a rocky island off the Maine coast. They knew logic wasn’t on their side, but they believe their God is. “We knew nobody out… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Collaborative marine science researcher retires

When Bob Steneck came to the University of Maine in 1982, there were few marine ecologists in the state, and none interacted with fishermen. He was among the first in Maine to work with lobstermen on research, traveling with them on their boats, diving to the seafloor to study lobsters,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Evidence of insanity: Black swans and B-O-A-T

I’ve been a boat owner for well over 50 years. So I should know something about the rocks and shoals that lie in wait for someone like me, right? The costs? The heartbreak? The disasters that lurk out there on, in or under the water? I thought I did—all of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Port Clyde’s loss is seared in pain

We can watch live satellite images of a typhoon on the other side of the planet. We can record thousands of photographs in a device not much bigger than a deck of playing cards. We can inject a genetic replica of a virus to boost immunity. But something as elemental… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine islands are the frontier

For those of you who track island life, you’ll likely know there are 15 year-round, unbridged islands along the Maine coast. Distinguished by their differences more than their commonalities, these islands span the coast from Cliff Island, the smallest of the Casco Bay islands, to Matinicus, the most distant island… SEE MORE

The approach to the Fox Islands Thorofare. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Mariners call for navigational aid maintenance

Lighthouses and buoys aren’t the only navigational aids on which mariners rely for safe transit. Structures known as day shapes or beacons, often built on ledges, also warn boaters away from danger, and some mariners have complained that as they deteriorate, the Coast Guard is failing to maintain them. Rep.… SEE MORE

Newschäfer at Lyman-Morse boatyard in Thomaston in September 2020. PHOTO: ROBERT MITCHELL

Working Waterfront

Solo sail around the world—for the win

On a solo round-the-world sailing race, Kirsten Neuschäfer had a teammate—her boat the Minnehaha. More than a tool, her boat was a partner in a race that takes incredible skill, determination, and a large dose of luck, she explained. It’s dubbed a race for “those who dare.” Neuschäfer dared and… SEE MORE