Working Waterfront

Urchin harvest begins Downeast

The sea urchin harvest season began Oct. 1 and continues through March 3. Kasey Nicholas Smith, a student at the University of Maine at Machias, was aboard the Pandalus of Eastport, captained by George "Butch" Harris, to photograph the work. The boat's crew includes Clifton Smith Jr. and Frederick Moore IV.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Long-time merchant mariner reflects on sea lessons

By Isabel Reddy The ship, a 100,000-ton, 750-foot-long cargo transport, was in heavy weather. The anchor was banging away against the bow. Weighing around 1,600 pounds, it could do considerable damage. The captain, Mike Flanagan, responded to the emergency by telling a crew member, “Secure the anchor.” The crew member… SEE MORE

The Schwörers look up and out of their home on the Pachama.

Working Waterfront

The Swiss family climatologists

In the Arctic, islanders are being forced to abandon the land where they’ve lived for generations, because eroding coastlines and rising sea levels have made their homes uninhabitable. As permafrost melts and the ice retreats, they are losing the fishing and hunting on which their livelihood depends. In Nova Scotia… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to understand Maine’s ‘High North’ opportunities

By Dan Bookham Since 2013 when the Icelandic steamship line Eimskip established operations in Portland, there has been growing buzz around Maine’s ocean-driven connections to our north. Ship calls to Portland’s International Marine Terminal have steadily increased, more and more Maine officials, economic developers and business people have made the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Weather stations on Wifi may help limit shellfish closures

A grant from the Maine Coastal Program will allow regulators to more precisely identify what areas of the Washington County coast need to be closed to shellfish harvesting after heavy rains. The $27,000 Coastal Communities grant, awarded to the Washington County Council of Governments, will pay for the purchase of ten… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Marine trades sector thriving by blending tradition, innovation

This is the first in a three-part series about the role boatbuilders and boatyards play in Maine’s coastal and island economy. In the early 1990s, Ed Gray was walking across the beach at Spurling Cove on Great Cranberry Island, and came across Jarvis Newman trying to jack up an old… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Clock is ticking on vision for Southport’s ‘Ruth’s House’

It’s linked by a small bridge to busy Boothbay Harbor, but don’t tell Southport residents that theirs isn’t an island community. Summer houses, used by multi-generational seasonal visitors, line the shore. The pre-K to 6th-grade school educates just 30 kids. And the civic and business lives of the 600-plus year-round… SEE MORE

A map showing tanker routes through the Gulf of Maine.

Working Waterfront

Oil that doesn’t float: Tar sands oil shipped through Gulf of Maine poses threat

It’s hard to imagine a heavy tar sands oil spill in the Gulf of Maine. Not just because of the vastness of the open ocean and our dependence on clean water for our fisheries economy, but also because tar sands oil is mined and steamed from the ground thousands of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Delight of island life shines through Dutch guests

No matter where you live, it is easy to lose sight of the highlights of your surroundings. You do your job, raise children, make phone calls, pay bills and run errands. In the Cranberry Isles, the boat ride to and from our cars on the mainland forces us to notice… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Weather, water patterns change as sea ice disappears

In an overview of climate change science at the public forum held in advance of the Arctic Council meetings in Portland, Sen. Angus King concluded that “something serious is happening, and it’s happening faster than we thought.” Later in the day, a panel of scientists gave the details on the… SEE MORE