A sailboat that broke free during the Oct. 30 story on the shore in Belfast.

Working Waterfront

Planning for effects of a changing climate on Maine’s coast

By Lydia Blume I have sponsored a bill, LD 1095, "An Act to Establish the Maine Coastal Risks and Hazards Commission," that the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resource Committee will work on when lawmakers reconvene in January. The bill proposes a commission to examine the risks that hazards such as storm… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: Fish on the York River, saving Morse River watershed, and Portand’s Presumpscot

Finding fish in the York River The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve conducted a survey of fishes in the York River last spring as part of a National Park Service study to determine if the river could be designated a federal Wild and Scenic River. The study, the first in more… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On Vinalhaven, business hopes kelp will help fishermen

Making ends meet from season to season is a challenge for many islanders. Finding additional avenues of income can be difficult in an isolated community with limited resources. It is, in part, to that end that Vinalhaven Kelp, Inc. was established. The business is a new venture seeking to prove… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On The Water In Maine offers more than lists

When Justin and Tiffany Ford launched their vacation rental management business in 2006, there were about 8,000 residential units available in the state. That number included houses whose owners rented them by the week or month in summer, as well as cabins, cottages, and condominiums near ski resorts like Sugarloaf… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Pingree’s working waterfront bill would provide grants

A proposal by Maine’s Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, to protect working waterfronts and the jobs and economic activity they support, was aired at a congressional subcommittee hearing on Nov. 2. The bill, HR 1176, is co-sponsored by Rep. Rob Wittman, a Republican from Virginia. The bill… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Considering the birds is a balm for troubled mind

One of the things I love about October and November in the Cranberry Isles is the increase in bird stories. It is migrating season and most people out here keep an eye on the birds with many a good story to tell. This fall, especially, my mind has craved the… SEE MORE

Oyster restoration on Mobile Bay in Alabama.

Working Waterfront

Restoring wild oyster beds, one acre at a time

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. New York City has its Billion Oyster Project, and now New Hampshire's Great Bay has its own 25-acre project, with help from fishermen in Phippsburg. Like many estuaries along the U.S. Atlantic coast, Great Bay was once a maze of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: Red tide, Downeast river quality, and alewives

Red tide of a different shade At the end of September, an unprecendented bloom of the phytoplankton karenia mikimotoi extended from Cape Elizabeth to the New Meadows River. Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) staff and local observers noted brownish water and the odor of suffocating sea life, which by… SEE MORE

Eastport's rebuild breakwater shelters fishing boats.

Working Waterfront

New Eastport breakwater ready to welcome marine activity

By Jacqueline Weaver Finishing touches on the new $15 million breakwater in Eastport were due to be completed Nov. 1 with the installation of floats alongside a new pier that provides access to everything from cruise ships to fishing boats. Construction of the 100-foot-by-400-foot pier began following a catastrophic collapse of… SEE MORE

Rockweed landed at a boat yard in Hancock.

Working Waterfront

Compromise possible in rockweed harvesting lawsuit

By Merritt Carey, Sean Mahoney, Tim Glidden, and Shep Erhart Lawsuits have a tendency to box parties in; they don’t allow for the nuances, complexities, and compromises that make up the realities of life, particularly life on Maine’s working waterfront. A lawsuit filed by three landowners in Washington County in… SEE MORE