Working Waterfront

Maine Sail Freight offers new way to think about trade

What do we who produce food from the land and sea have in common? For one thing, a changing climate. Changes in the weather have big impacts on the businesses and industries that straddle nature and the market. Another challenge is that farmers and fisher people are getting older, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster union approaches three-year anniversary

Formed in the midst of the price crisis during the summer of 2012, the Maine Lobstering Union will mark its third anniversary in September. The prices fishermen get have rebounded, but the union remains strong and growing. The group has over 600 members, and its leaders believe it has become… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster futures uncertain, but efforts underway to boost demand

Bobby Beckman is just 22, but when it comes to the lobster business, he takes the long view. "I figure, lobsters have been here millions of years," he says, foot propped up on the console of his boat in Vinalhaven Harbor. "I think there'll always be lobsters." Some worry about,… SEE MORE

Protestors outside Bangor's federal building.

Working Waterfront

Environment is a wild card for lobster

In June, a battery of highly paid lawyers sat at a table in federal court in Bangor, the company they represent on the hook for dumping mercury in the lower Penobscot River decades earlier. It was easy to imagine them being anxious as they listened to an opposing lawyer explain… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What you hear about lobsters, and what’s true

There are oft-told stories that long ago lobsters were food fit only for the poor, that the prisoners at the Maine State Penitentiary (and apprentices in Boston) refused to eat them more than twice a week, and that they were so plentiful and poorly regarded that farmers used them for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fisheries, science are subjects of talks on Maine coast

The nonprofit fisheries policy organization Penobscot East Resource Center in Stonington is sponsoring (and co-sponsoring) three fisheries-related talks. “American Catch” Wednesday, July 29 6:30 p.m.—Paul Greenberg At College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor. Paul Greenberg is a lifelong fisherman and has written for The New York Times, National Geographic,… SEE MORE

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Lyman-Morse buys Wayfarer Marine

By Tom Groening Thomaston-based Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding has purchased Wayfarer Marine in Camden. Lyman-Morse announced the purchase on July 1. The terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Both boatyards have deep ties to their communities. Lyman-Morse's history dates back nearly 100 years, while boatbuilding at the Wayfarer site began in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster coops use strength in numbers

Editor's note: This story was first posted on May 20, 2014. By Tom Groening VINALHAVEN — At the end of a typical summer day, an 18-wheeler will roll onto the mainland-bound ferry loaded with 300-400 crates of live lobster packed in seaweed. The lobster—40,000 pounds of it, provided by the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ship becomes launch pad for naval target practice

By Benjamin Stevens On board the USNS Washington Chambers, a merchant marine ship designed to carry cargo, four of us stood on the flying bridge, waiting with our eyes to the sky. The Pacific sun beat down on us, but we didn’t care. We were waiting for a fly-by from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Be on the lookout for ‘oceans of jelly’

By Nick Record Last summer, beachgoers and mariners along the coast of Maine reported dense aggregations of jellyfish—mostly lion’s mane and moon jellies, with reports of salps later on in the year. The gelatinous critters bothered swimmers, clogged bilge pumps, gummed up lobster traps, and fascinated ocean geeks like me.… SEE MORE