The late afternoon sun illuminates boats in Front Street Shipyard's marina on Belfast Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Belfast’s Front Street Shipyard expands to city land

A years-long negotiation with the Belfast City Council has resolved, allowing the high-profile waterfront business Front Street Shipyard to expand onto city property. Front Street Shipyard, established in 2011 on the waterfront where the former Stinson Seafood once operated, now employs 90-plus. The company’s niche has been servicing large yachts,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Mussels have a nose for good homes

For people looking to settle down, a location's odor can be a factor in whether they stay or go. Turns out the same is true for mussel larvae. Mussel larvae swim toward odors from adult mussels, and swim away from odors from predators, including green crabs and dog whelks, says Scott… SEE MORE
From left

Working Waterfront

Hinckley, Morris join forces

The Hinckley Company’s boatbuilding plant in Trenton was a hive of activity on a recent day, with 25 to 30 boats in different stages of production, from molding to sea trials. It’s a typical scene these days. “This is a new Talaria 43, a couple of months away from completion,”… SEE MORE
A depiction of the new version of The Cat

Working Waterfront

What ‘The Cat’ can do for Portland and Maine

Maine business and government officials are expecting The Cat—the new high-speed catamaran ferry service between Portland and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia—will deliver an economic boost when it begins service on June 15. “I expect it to attract a higher level of use than what we experienced with the Nova Star, and… SEE MORE
A lobster boat returns to port.

Working Waterfront

Lobstering offshore becoming attractive to some

A booming lobster resource, combined with a trend toward larger boats with more horsepower and the latest advances in navigational electronics, has an increasing number of Maine’s lobster fishermen leaving behind the crowded inshore fishing grounds and heading further offshore for a sustained, year-round harvest. “It’s something that’s been evolving… SEE MORE
With 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. imported from other countries

Working Waterfront

Globalized seafood market clashes with sustainability

In his award-winning book The Mortal Sea, historian Jeffrey Bolster detailed the 19th century decline of Northwest Atlantic fisheries, a tragedy encouraged and hidden by expansion to new waters, and advances in harvesting and processing technology that kept markets overflowing with seafood. As Bolster described it, “The market masked the… SEE MORE