Working Waterfront

Arctic holds shipping opportunities for Maine

Receding ice in the Arctic is the dramatic, even shocking result of climate change, climatologists say. But despite what may be understood as environmental catastrophe, open waters in the previously ice-bound region present opportunity. Those opportunities include new shipping lanes, oil and gas exploration and even tourism. This year,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

From Castine to the world—again

Picture in your mind a cargo ship and an aircraft carrier, one 900-feet and the other 1,200-feet-long and both 20 stories tall, traveling through the ocean only 100 yards away from each other. Water shoots between them, causing suction and push forces that make the two vessels want to steer… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Testimony sought on impacts to fishing with Beals dredge project

BEALS — The Maine Department of Marine Resources will hold a public hearing May 14 on a proposal to dredge Beals Harbor and Pig Island Gut Channel. The public hearing, to take place 6 p.m. at the Beals Elementary School, will be conducted to receive testimony solely about the impact of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering the Vinalhaven ferry, circa 1920

The following was written by my grandfather Ted Maddox, a fireman aboard these ferries: On a brisk late spring morning in 1920 the Governor Bodwell was docked at Tillson's Wharf in Rockland and preparing for departure to Vinalhaven. Several capable deckhands wheeled dollies loaded with freight down water-slicked ramps… SEE MORE

Fishermen head back to Bass Harbor after a day hauling traps.

Working Waterfront

Fishing—a risky business

Fishermen face two realities on the water. There's the potential for accidents that could result in death, injury or vessel loss. Then there's the sheer pain many live with every day, a result of the bodily stresses they endure doing this hard work. Hazardous working conditions, strenuous labor, long work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Program gives islanders a leg up on lobstering

FRENCHBORO—Residents hoping to sustain a viable lobster fishing community are celebrating the implementation of a program that allows island fishermen to get fishing licenses more quickly than their mainland counterparts. "It’s a wonderful program to sustain the island for generations to come, not just for us, but for others," said… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine cousins succeed with lobster food trucks

Maine natives and cousins Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac had customers lined up 50 deep the moment they began selling fresh Maine lobster rolls from their food truck in Los Angeles. A few months later, they were on television's reality investment show "Shark Tank," partnering with real estate mogul and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

St. George voters OK purchase of Port Clyde wharf

St. George voters supported a proposal to purchase a waterfront property in the village of Port Clyde on May 11. The move carried in a 245-104 vote. The town had negotiated a $810,000 purchase option, contingent on the vote. The former Mosquito Island Lobster Company property is assessed at $1.1 million. The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island man loses fishing licenses

Lucas Lemoine, the 33-year-old scallop fisherman from Swan's Island charged earlier this year with multiple violations of marine resources laws, has had all of his commercial fishing licenses permanently revoked as a result of a history of violations that goes back almost two decades. This is the first time a… SEE MORE

Firefighters squeeze into the galley to fight a simulated grease fire.

Working Waterfront

Fire in the galley!

Charles Salerno surveys the scene with a sharp eye. Several figures in bright yellow and orange jackets and pants crawl up to a doorway, their breathing masks and oxygen tanks making movement difficult. Their helmets bounce off of one another's visors, and their heavy gloves make handling the 2-inch hose… SEE MORE