Landmesser at the easel in his Stockton Springs studio. Photo courtesy the artist.

Working Waterfront

On public access: William Landmesser’s ‘The Harvester’

At the time he painted “The Harvester” in 2012, William Landmesser of Stockton Springs remembers that concern about diminishing access to shorefront in Maine was growing. “The boom in waterfront real estate meant potentially much less access by both commercial fishermen and the recreating public,” he recalled. He welcomed legislation… SEE MORE

A panel discussion on small-scale aquaculture in Stonington on April 24 included, from left: Marsden Brewer, Mike Talhauser, Abby Barrows, Christian Brayden, Jaclyn Robidoux, and Kyle Pepperman.

Working Waterfront

A way forward for marine economy: Small-scale aquaculture

Near the end of an April 24 panel discussion in Stonington, a speaker described what he hoped the harbor would look like 50 years from now. Today, early mornings see fishermen heading out in skiffs to their boats, off to haul traps in this top-landing lobster port. But in the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Those who served at back of the boat

I’m reposting an abridged version of a column from May 2012. I smile thinking of all the different people Bruce and I recalled and what fun we had doing it. On Little Cranberry Island sternmen stories abound! Most of the lobster fishermen in our area take an extra person or… SEE MORE

UMaine graduate students Grayson Hutson and Julia Sunnarborg collecting an eDNA sample through the ice at Walker Pond. Grayson and Julia and colleagues at the University of Maine and University of Southern Maine are using eDNA to study migration patterns of alewives as they move between saltwater and freshwater to understant their affects on lake and estuary ecosystems, especially in cases where dams are being removed to increase fish passage. They are even mining the lake sediments for ancient eDNA to understand what fish populations might have looked like in the past.

Working Waterfront

Sifting DNA from ocean holds promise

Researchers are finding many more species of fish associated with kelp forests using eDNA than are observed visually. This raises questions about whether these species are transient or using kelp as an important habitat. SEE MORE

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

Working Waterfront

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