Working Waterfront

Fisheries advocate Alden named White House ‘champion’

Robin Alden, a former commissioner of the state’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and current director of the Stonington-based Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC), has been named a White House champion of change for her work on sustainable seafood issues. The honor was bestowed in a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 7.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

UMaine Machias students grows her own coral

Coral reefs make up less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, yet they provide shelter for as much as a quarter of sea life. “They’re a huge keystone ecosystem for the ocean,” explains Clair Aldrich, a senior at the University of Maine at Machias. “They’re so important.” So important—especially… SEE MORE

Pedalers on the foot-powered Maine Baycycle enjoy their beverages.

Working Waterfront

Going footloose on Casco Bay

PHOTO STORY BY KATIE JOHNSON There’s a new boat in town, and a new way to get out on the waters of Casco Bay. Maine Baycycle, run by captain and Peaks Island native Neil Kinner, provides a 90-minute pedal powered cruise of Portland’s waterfront that’s different from anything else out… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Financial hacks for fishermen

A version of this column first appeared in Landings, the newsletter of the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance and is reprinted here with permission. Thinking about a new boat? Knowing how to pay for it is important. To help fishermen better understand financial management, the Vinalhaven Coop brought some experts from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making a living from a changing sea

By Heather Deese, Ph. D. This summer I had dozens of conversations about the changing Gulf of Maine and how these changes play out in our local fisheries. Many conversations took place in community halls and theaters during evening “A Climate of Change” events featuring four short films produced by the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stonington, Blue Hill area fishermen want to close lobster zone

Zone C has shut down its open-entry system into the lobster fishery. The state’s lobster fishery is divided into seven management zones, arrayed in a line along the coast from the Canadian border to the New Hampshire border. Zone C is the third one heading from east to west, and… SEE MORE

The Toll of the Sea memorial on Chebeague Island.

Working Waterfront

Chebeague dedicates ‘Toll of the Sea’ memorial

Islanders know first-hand the inherent dangers of living and working around the sea. Many have survived close calls on the water, but have also lost family and friends. So it is not surprising that more than 220 people turned out to attend the dedication of Chebeague’s Toll of the Sea… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The problem is ours to fix, so ‘Open your mouth!’

By Laurie Sproul “So, open your mouth lad! For every voice counts!” Dr. Seuss’ logic, expressed in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, prods us to vote. However, in our complex world it’s difficult sorting through the issues. Take climate change. Sea level rise threatening sewer plants; salt… SEE MORE

A lobster boat cruises through Portland Harbor with the Nova Star

Working Waterfront

Tweaking a model waterfront

Imagine stumbling onto an undeveloped shoreline. Protected by islands, this mile-long waterfront has deep water at one end and a gravel beach at the other. If that shoreline were to be developed for various maritime uses, how would you organize it? Portland’s waterfront developed the way most have, with ever-changing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine on glass: New book collects stunning early 20th century images

Maine on Glass: The Early Twentieth Century in Glass Plate Photography is the joint effort of Kevin Johnson, Penobscot Marine Museum’s Photo Archivist; W.H. Bunting, Maine’s foremost interpreter of historic images; and Earl G. Shettleworth Jr., Maine State Historian. This book uses images from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company… SEE MORE