Sisters Betsy and Jill Philbrook fish from their boat off Swan's Island. Betsy first fished with her grandmother

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island honors women who fished

PHOTO COURTESY SWAN'S ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY Betsy Philbrook, in 1988, rigs her first trap. Betsy Philbrook’s grandmother, Melita Staples, was up for anything except cooking and housecleaning. “She used to bait tubs when she was younger,” said Philbrook. “She was much happier driving a dumptruck or working on a dock than staying… SEE MORE

Seas break over the main road on Islesboro in the area known as the Narrows.

Working Waterfront

Innovative infrastructure in face of sea-level rise

By Susie Arnold, Kate Tagai, and Allison Carmen Rising ocean levels and increasing storm frequency and intensity are already having an impact along the Maine coast. How we choose to adapt and improve our coastal infrastructure will determine how our communities succeed. Traditional approaches to improving built infrastructure include increasing the diameter… SEE MORE

An aerial view of House Island in Casco Bay.

Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: A focus on monitoring

How blue is Casco Bay? Friends of Casco Bay is recruiting volunteers to help monitor water quality by observing the color of the water. The color of estuaries and bays can be an indicator of nutrient and sediment concentrations and phytoplankton production. With a simple smartphone photograph, volunteers can provide… SEE MORE

Channing Boswell at the dock off Thompson Wharf in Belfast

Working Waterfront

Rolling on the river aboard electric-powered whale boat

Whether it’s aboard a restored schooner or a retrofit lobster boat, there are plenty of opportunities for visitors and locals to enjoy the sublime experience of being on the saltwater in Maine. It may be for a few hours or a few days, but businesses abound offering such outings. Channing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Into the Raging Sea’ details human failings that cursed El Faro

Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking ofEl Faro By Rachel Slade (HarperCollins, 2018) Reviewed by Tina Cohen In October 2015, the El Faro, a 790-foot American container ship owned and operated by TOTE Maritime, sank off the Bahamas, claiming the lives of all 33 crew, including… SEE MORE

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Parking lot, new schedule drives ferry discussion

Despite the end of the busy tourist season, the Maine State Ferry Service has a full plate for the early fall. Members of the service’s citizen advisory board learned about maintenance, upgrade, scheduling, and legal matters at their Sept. 6 meeting in Rockland. Most visible will be work on the… SEE MORE

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New family revives Abel’s in Somesville

By Laurie Schreiber LAURIE SCHREIBER Carmen Sanford shows off a pie she had baked. On a sunny June noon at a food truck called Ted’s Take-Out, Shae Stanley was taking an order for a chicken wrap from a frequent customer while her husband, Ted Stanley Jr., prepared the… SEE MORE

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Trapped on film in ‘Trap to Table’ promotion

“Trap to Table” is a four-part web-based video series by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to promote new ideas for new shell lobster. My husband, Bruce Fernald, was one of four fishermen paired with a chef for a day of fishing, cooking, and eating. You can see the video on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Free screening of ‘This Changes Everything’ at Rockland Strand

It has been yet another summer of alarming temperatures, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria is still part of Puerto Rico’s daily reality, and news of dramatic wildfires in the west has people across the country and across the world wondering about their future. This Changes Everything, a documentary film about our… SEE MORE

Volunteers pick up trash on a Midcoast island this summer.

Working Waterfront

Microplastics are everywhere you are, and that’s not good

By Abby Barrows Plastic—we all touch, use, and throw it out every day. It is an amazing, lightweight, and durable material. That quality of durability, however, has made plastic into a worldwide pollution problem. We use items designed to last a few minutes, made from a material that lasts thousands… SEE MORE