Working Waterfront

On the record with… Left for Dead author Eric Jay Dolin

This has always puzzled me: for whatever reason, stories about the ocean are viewed by us as romantic. It was not romantic at all. SEE MORE

An aerial view of Sea Meadow waterfront marine center in Yarmouth. PHOTO: COURTESY TAYLOR APPOLONIO

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Sea Meadow on firmer ground with funding

Sea Meadow is a 12-acre parcel along the tidal Cousins River, which flows into the Royal River and into Casco Bay. The property is located on a dirt road about a quarter mile from busy Route 1 and has been occupied by two boatbuilders for decades. SEE MORE

“Flaking the Purse Seine,” circa 1940, by Emily Muir (1904-2003), watercolor on paper, 16 1/2 x 23 inches. PHOTO: COURTESY OF BARRIDOFF AUCTIONS

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Emily Muir and the seiners

In addition to being a painter, Muir was a self-taught architect and designer, as well as an author, lecturer, and conservationist. SEE MORE

The Jacob Pike underway. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

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The Jacob Pike, a victim of January’s storms

In 2022, The Penobscot Marine Museum acquired a collection of several thousand Jim Moore’s maritime-related negatives SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Unhealthy progression: algae, bacteria, and hypoxia

Fishermen love their coffee, but they don’t want the ocean to look like it! Last summer, that is just what the ocean looked like across the Gulf of Maine, from Penobscot Bay to Martha's Vineyard. The brown water was the result of a massive bloom of microscopic algae (otherwise known… SEE MORE

Maine Marine Patrol Officer Alex Michaud, center, receives the 2024 Maine Lobstermen’s Association Officer of the Year Award during the Fishermen’s Forum. From left are and MLA board president Kristan Porter Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher, from left), Sgt. Matthew Wyman, and Major Rob Beal.

Working Waterfront

Michaud wins ‘officer of the year’

Maine Marine Patrol Officer Alex Michaud received the 2024 Maine Lobstermen’s Association Officer of the Year Award during the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in early March. The award is presented to a Marine Patrol Officer who has demonstrated outstanding service in support of the lobster industry. Michaud, who joined… SEE MORE

Passengers disembark the ferry on Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

Feds provide funds for Lincolnville terminal

Sen. Susan Collins announced that the Maine Department of Transportation will receive a grant award of $7.1 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Service for Rural Communities Grant Program. The funding will go toward upgrading and modernizing the ferry terminal in Lincolnville to better meet current and anticipated… SEE MORE

Young, healthy sea stars were found in Acadia National Park.

Working Waterfront

Despite regeneration ability, sea stars are dying

Turns out we’ve been looking at starfish all wrong. First, they’re not fish. They belong to a group of marine invertebrates called echinoderms, which also includes sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers. Starfish now go by the classy common name of sea stars. Then there’s the matter of those… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What’s lurking in the deep Gulf of Maine?

It’s a foggy and rainy May. A little chilly. Today is a good day to talk about ocean temperatures. Across most of the North Atlantic, sea surface temperatures have been absolutely shattering records recently. Yet when we look at the buoys in the Gulf of Maine, this winter and spring… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The passing of a fisheries icon

Francis J. O’Hara Sr., president of the O’Hara Corporation, passed away on Aug. 3 at his home in Camden at the age of 91. If there is a name that’s synonymous with Maine’s fishing industry, it’s Frank O’Hara. SEE MORE