Working Waterfront

Paul Anderson succeeds Robin Alden at fishery nonprofit

The Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (MCCF) has named Paul Anderson as its new executive director. Anderson will begin working at the Stonington nonprofit in September and will fully assume executive director duties Jan. 1. Anderson will succeed founder Robin Alden as executive director, who is stepping down after 14… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Weather, The Great War and a homeward bound schooner

Let’s start with the weather. It’s April, that often cruelest of months, as this is being written. In Maine, April is a flirt, flashing a warm, beckoning smile one day, and spitting snow the next. This winter followed the pattern of last year’s, easier on the snow and cold—though in… SEE MORE

A map of Fort George at the failed Popham colony (property of the archive at Simancas

Working Waterfront

Mysteries of Maine’s first European colony

By Phil Showell It was one of those crazy thoughts people get in the dead of winter. It’s January of 1608. You’re a Popham colonist, teeth chattering, huddled against the cold in a half-built Fort St. George. Up drives a snow-splattered Jeep Cherokee with a license plate proclaiming “Maine–Vacationland.” Well,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Herring history at stake in Lubec

Some things just can’t be replaced, such as the historic brining shed—an integral element in Lubec’s once booming smoked herring business. The now empty and fragile structure was used as part of the process at McCurdy’s Smokehouse, which is the last standing herring smokehouse in the country. Rachel Rubeor, president… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Safety training is what saves fishermen’s lives

By Xiaoxi Wang If you think the assertion that the most dangerous job in the U.S. can be found in New England sounds… well, a little fishy, you’re right. Commercial fishing has been considered the second most dangerous occupation in the U.S. for decades. In 2014, out of every 100,000… SEE MORE

Lobster boats in Vinalhaven's Carver's Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Lobster union buys processing facility

The Maine Lobstering Union’s recent $4 million purchase of the Seal Point Lobster Company, a wholesale lobster distribution business in Lamoine, is expected to net union members a share of the profits to be had throughout the entire supply chain, from trap to plate. But the purchase is about more… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Warmer waters pushing northern shrimp out of Gulf of Maine

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. This winter was the fourth consecutive year of a moratorium on fishing for northern shrimp. Management of the fishery remains a subject of discussion. The small, sweet northern shrimp are an Arctic species, and are at the southernmost extent of… SEE MORE

Tenants Harbor lobsterman Hale Miller harvests seaweed in Muscle Ridge Channel in Penobscot Bay.

Working Waterfront

Landmark ruling blocks access to seaweed harvesters

A March 16 Washington County Superior Court ruling will allow private landowners to block harvester access to rockweed in the intertidal zone. The ruling is likely to be appealed to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. The plaintiffs, Washington County landowners Kenneth and Carl Ross and the Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation,… SEE MORE

Jim Harkins among his store of nautical gear.

Working Waterfront

Captain Jim’s in Portland is maritime world’s back storeroom

It’s hard to get a fix on just what Jim Harkins has going in his Portland warehouse. Is it a nautical-themed flea market? A maritime museum? A high-end nautical antique store? A kind of Goodwill store for boat owners? Well, it’s all of the above. Harkins, 57, is a character… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ferry service considers higher summer, lower winter rates

To meet a state mandate to raise half its operating funds from customers, the Maine State Ferry Service has proposed raising rates during the busy summer months and lowering them in the off season. Rick Dubois, the state Department of Transportation's director of multimodal operations, explained the proposal to the citizen… SEE MORE