A saltwater marsh like this one help absorb storm surge and provide wildlife habitat.

Working Waterfront

Maine’s salt marshes are disappearing

Salt marshes are disappearing. Scientists, who say these tidal wetlands are critical components of coastal environments, have been sounding the alarm for years. Salt marshes purify water, protect coastal infrastructure from storm surges, are nurseries for juvenile fish and shellfish, and provide important habitat for rare plants and coastal birds. They also link… SEE MORE

A scallop dragger at its mooring on a cold

Working Waterfront

DEP program helps fishermen, boatyards pay for new engines

It’s not every day the government pays for nearly half of a new engine for a commercial boat, but that’s the case for owners of some vessels. Since 2009, over 100 fishing boats, schooners, ferries, whale watch boats, and even a tug boat have been repowered with grants from the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Free film, panel event: Plastics are ‘The Smog of the Sea’

The documentary film The Smog of the Sea chronicles a one-week journey of citizen scientists on a mission to assess the fate of plastics in the world’s oceans. The film will be screened for free at the Lincoln Theater on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. Tickets, which are free and required are available… SEE MORE

Workers harvest mussels at a aquaculture operation in Southern Maine.

Working Waterfront

Aquaculture, seafood processors share $1.7 million in grants

The Maine Technology Institute and Alliance for Maine’s Marine Economy have awarded eight grants to projects ranging from value-added seafood processing to seaweed aquaculture to shellfish aquaculture. The grant winners cover the coast from York to Washington counties. The marine economy grants and cluster initiative programs are financed by the… SEE MORE

Marine patrol officers Jonathan Varnum (left) and Alex Hebert (right) pose with Col. Jonathan Cornish after graduating from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy on Dec. 15. Having previously completed the academy's pre-service program

Working Waterfront

Two marine patrol officers complete training

Working Waterfront

The story of Serendipity is the story of wooden boats

Serendipity: The Story of Building a Dream Ship By Peter L. Murray Reviewed by David Platt Harvard Law School must not be as hard as they say. At least Peter Murray had the time and energy, while a student there, to build an entire 30-foot schooner. Before launching he’d even… SEE MORE

The woking waterfront on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) is busy

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Decorum in D.C., as seen from inside (and above) the room

I’ve learned a trick that helps me move through high-pressure situations. I wish I’d been able to use this trick when I was competing in piano recitals as a kid. Now, when I walk into a room in one of these situations, I imagine zooming out and standing above myself—actually,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Caught: the reality behind the first fishermen’s co-op

Caught: time. place. fish. By Glen Libby and Antonia Small; Wrack Line Books, Port Clyde, Maine, 2016; 120 pages, large format paperback, $40. By design, Caught, with text by by Glen Libby and photos by Antonia Small, is a book you can keep on your coffee table both for casual… SEE MORE

The remnants of boats destroyed during the Oct. 30 storm washed ashore near Belfast's breakwater.

Working Waterfront

‘Bomb cyclone’ explodes over Maine coast

Those of us who endured the Ice Storm of 1998, which knocked out power for days and even weeks for many, take a certain pride in having survived the ordeal. All other extended power outages were measured against that mother of “inconveniences,” as former (Belfast) Republican Journal columnist Doug Hufnagel… SEE MORE

Waves crashing on the Swan's Island shore.

Working Waterfront

It was a hot and stormy 2017, without El Niño

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. It may not be a surprise that 2017 has been a year of record-breaking storms and heat. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria took a devastating toll on the Caribbean and southeast United States. Harvey dumped almost 52 inches of rain… SEE MORE