Working Waterfront

Bad habits revived again and again

The change of seasons—spring being what’s on my mind—can call out old habits. Mine have to do with boats and the preparations they require at this time of year. The habits of others will be different, of course, depending on circumstances, priorities, and whose habits we’re talking about. While my… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What’s lurking in the deep Gulf of Maine?

It’s a foggy and rainy May. A little chilly. Today is a good day to talk about ocean temperatures. Across most of the North Atlantic, sea surface temperatures have been absolutely shattering records recently. Yet when we look at the buoys in the Gulf of Maine, this winter and spring… SEE MORE

Leaving Frenchboro Harbor. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Listening led to harbor dredging funds

Last month, Sen. Susan Collins secured $500,000 in federal funding to dredge Frenchboro’s Lunt Harbor. The small island eight miles off Mount Desert Island relies on marine transportation and fishing for survival, so a safely navigable harbor is critical for the island’s everyday function. The harbor, the main point for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fishing for trash

A recent radio program on Maine’s lobster industry reminded me of island cleanups, the efforts to clean the stacks and tangles of lobster fishing debris. In the radio program, answering a question about fishing trash, Patricia McCarron of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association noted that most cleanup effort was “under the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Offshore wind threatens centuries of fishing

The New England electric grid—ISO New England—has a website that includes a display featuring two pie charts that show where our electricity is coming from, updated in real time. Right now, “renewables” are at 7% of our total energy mix. Wind is 28% of that 7%, solar is 10% of… SEE MORE

Rockweed ready for shipping on a ramp in Hancock. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Rockweed study not accurately explained

Rockweed is a slow-growing, wild seaweed on the rocky coast of Maine. It is highly valued as a commercial fertilizer and debates about how rockweed harvesting should be managed are contentious. To address questions about over-harvesting, academic researchers collaborated with commercial companies to test for effects of a single harvest… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A top-notch choice

I am writing to simply say I greatly enjoyed your column “My happy Maine anniversary” (Rock Bound, September issue). I was enjoying reading your essay—Deer Isle is my ancestral home, both parents born and raised there, and I got a tingle. But then you went and done it. You decided… SEE MORE

Passamaquoddy Tribe members gather at a ceremony. FILE PHOTO: LESLIE BOWMAN

Working Waterfront

Let’s return to a native view of resources

The Wabanaki nations have an excellent history of sustainable resource management. Before colonizers dominated the resources of this area in the 1600s, the Wabanakis had lived here for 12,000 years, self-regulating their consumption and relationships to the land and one another. In a fraction of that time, the society that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ban ocean-based finfish farms

Eric Jors, the CEO of American Aquafarms, the company that proposed a large sea-based fish farm in Frenchman Bay, recently said he saw continued opportunity to provide sustainable aquaculture in Maine that met global food demands while mitigating climate change and benefiting the local community and economy. Let’s explore those… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Buying a house is still your best investment

The path to homeownership can be bumpy. Buyers must withstand bidding wars, contingencies, complex tax laws, and an array of market factors beyond most anyone’s control. Still, buying a house is typically the single best investment a family can make. Homeownership is the largest source of wealth creation in the… SEE MORE