Mixed use or conflicting uses? An early winter scene in Boothbay Harbor captures the fishing industry’s presence along with nearby tourism-related buildings.

Working Waterfront

The last fisherman?

Analysis by Edgar Allen Beem When it comes to the working waterfront, there always seems to be someone with a big idea that doesn’t quite fit with existing ordinances and practices. Recently, a pair of hotel proposals had residents of Boothbay Harbor and Portland wrestling with the endless challenge of… SEE MORE

A cruise ship at Eastport's breakwater pier.

Working Waterfront

And there are cruise ships, too, in Eastport

By Tom Walsh Cruise ship traffic can be both a blessing and a curse for Maine ports. Visitors who come ashore—at times thousands of passengers and crew—represent millions of dollars in local seasonal revenues. The same visitors can also overwhelm a small community, as has happened in Bar Harbor. Eastport’s… SEE MORE

Wind turbine blades stacked at the Port of Eastport.

Working Waterfront

Putting the ‘port’ back in Eastport

By Tom Walsh Maine’s Downeast coastline is so far north and so far east that northern Europe seems just over the horizon. Which it is. Washington County’s Port of Eastport is among three deep-water ports on the Maine coast. The two others are in Portland and Searsport. Eastport’s Port Authority… SEE MORE

The view from Treat Island in Passamaquoddy Bay

Working Waterfront

‘Keep the Coast Maine’ campaign nearing finish line

By Jacqueline Weaver The nonprofit land conservation organization Maine Coast Heritage Trust is well on its way to raising $125 million in its “Keep the Coast Maine” campaign, aiming to protect and add public access to the shore, while also preparing for threats to the coast from climate change. MCHT… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Shetterly’s Seaweed Chronicles explores history of plunder

Review by Carl Little One April day some 25 years ago, fine mesh fyke nets suddenly appeared in the estuary that leads to the Somesville Mill Pond. The market for elvers—glass eels favored by Japanese diners—had exploded, with astronomical per-pound prices driving the new fishery. As they had with urchins,… SEE MORE

Quahog Bay Conservancy staff Alec Bolinger

Working Waterfront

Sea to soil: invasive crabs turn fields green

KELLI PARK Sarah Matel, left, a fruit and vegetable farming intern, and Tom Prohl, fruit and vegetable production manager at Wolfe's Neck Center, empty crates of green crabs into the manure spreader. Story and Photos by Kelli Park It sounds like the elements of a macabre ritual—green crabs, a wood chipper,… SEE MORE

A view of the mouth of the Penobscot River from Fort Point in Stockton Springs.

Working Waterfront

Penobscot River mercury study: $300 million in remediation

By Catherine Schmitt The Penobscot River estuary is the largest in Maine, and one of the largest embayments on the East Coast. Islands and rocky shores dominate, but in the upper reaches, along the Marsh River in Frankfort and the Orland River, are extensive salt marshes and mudflats where the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Whale skeleton work brings school, community together

By Courtney Naliboff It could have been a ghoulish scene: hole saws cut into vertebrae, hammers whacking chisels, loosening chunks of marrow. Small children swept bone and sawdust from the floor. Rather than a scene from a horror movie, this was a community work day on North Haven’s minke whale… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Picking up the migratory cues

By Allison Carmen Before moving to the Northeast, I spent part of my undergrad training as a National Association of Underwater Instructors research diver. When we weren’t on assignment counting nurse sharks or sea bass deep in the Catalina kelp forests, my scuba friends and I could be found finning… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Great Lakes water poses questions of balance

"Enjoy your cup of Lake Superior," a voice said. I looked at the steaming coffee in my hand. I hadn't connected the water used to brew my coffee with the great body right outside the window, but of course for the residents of Madeline Island and for the other 48… SEE MORE