Category: Marine

Working Waterfront

Marine Patrol launches largest patrol vessel

The Maine Marine Patrol has launched the newest and largest patrol vessel in its fleet, the 57-foot P/V Allegiance, which will support safer and more effective offshore patrols. It was officially put into service on Thursday, June 11 during a christening event at Perry’s Lobster in Surry. “Maine Marine Patrol routinely… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The tall task of throwing away lobster rope

Lobstermen call it pot warp: the rope that runs from the buoy on the water’s surface down to the trap on the ocean floor. A single lobsterman may use miles of it. Until the mid-20th century, pot warp was made of natural fiber—Manila, cotton, hemp—that wore out, broke down and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine warns boaters to keep distance from humpback whales

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has recently sighted numerous humpback whales close to shore, spanning from Port Clyde up through Jonesport. We have also received reports of boaters coming in close proximity to these whales. This can result in injuries to both the whales and the people. When boating… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

NOAA selects UNH as hub for aquaculture research

The University of New Hampshire has been selected as the host institution for a new program under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called the Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Markets (CIFARM) to expand NOAA’s impact and strengthen efforts to boost American seafood competitiveness. After a highly competitive application process,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Protecting Nantucket’s vanishing working waterfront

There are times when I wonder if Nantucket Island, where I have lived and worked for the last twelve years, faces an impossible situation. Thirty miles south of mainland Massachusetts, Nantucket’s character is eroding under extreme development pressures. They aren’t making any new land out here; more and more of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A whaling museum grows

At a time when many museums are retrenching post-pandemic, the New Bedford Whaling Museum on the south shore of Massachusetts is expanding. In March, it was announced the museum would receive a $15 million tax-exempt bond from MassDevelopment, a quasi-public state development agency, to fund the creation of a new… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Jeff’s boat

I rented 20-foot Bertram boats from Jeff Armstrong at Jeff’s Marine in Thomaston for many years. Jeff had five of those Bertram Bahia Mar models. Wonderfully built, amazingly seaworthy, and steady. Ten years ago, I rented a boat from Jeff as usual, but about two weeks into the summer rental,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The working waterfront threw me a lifeline

I didn’t come to Lincoln County looking to start over. I was already here. By early June of 2025, I had moved to Jefferson and begun building a life—writing, volunteering, settling into a rhythm. Three weeks after moving in with my partner, our relationship ended abruptly. Overnight, I was without… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New Texas restaurant grows and sells Maine oysters

Buzz is growing about a new restaurant with photos on the wall of Maine and a raw bar that serves oysters from the Pine Tree State, including the occasional oyster from the restaurant’s own aquaculture farm. Such a restaurant may not seem unique in Bar Harbor or Portland, but it… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A new board game simulates lobstering in Penobscot Bay

Lobster fishing is a blend of strategy, hard work, and good fortune. The right gear, the right timing, and the right places to set strings of traps can be no match for the weather, or the whims of the market, but fisherfolk persevere, and often end a season in the… SEE MORE