Working Waterfront

Hybrid ferry is a ‘half attempt’

I was greatly disappointed to read that the new ferry being built for Islesboro has gone from an all-electric boat to a hybrid. With global warming affecting the Gulf of Maine faster than most other bodies of water in the world, I believe we need to make our best effort… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Why we must modernize the bottle bill

Step into your local redemption center and what you will see is the beating heart of Maine’s most effective recycling and litter prevention program. These hard-working businesses hand sort thousands and thousands of bottles and cans—perhaps redeemed by your child’s classroom or sports team—ensuring a strong, successful market for recycling… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ocean acidification threatens blue economy

In a state renowned for its lobster and shellfish, Mainers understand the importance of a healthy ocean. But you don’t have to spend your mornings on a fishing boat hauling in the day’s catch or even live near the coast to be affected by our changing and warming seas. Ocean… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making our ‘civic deserts’ more fertile

Like most of Generation Z, many of my early life milestones were bookmarked by incredible socio-political events. I graduated high school in 2016, the same year as a shocking U.S. presidential election and the second deadliest mass shooting in the country. When I graduated from college in 2020, the first… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fear of aquaculture not couched in reality

An article in the February/March issue The Working Waterfront outlined the fact that an increasing number of coastal towns in Maine fear, and are interposing regulatory measures that bar or limit, new and/or expanded aquaculture activities in their respective towns (“Towns fear, fight aquaculture expansion”). Similar (and somewhat stronger) views… SEE MORE

A working pier in Jonesport. FILE PHOTO: LESLIE BOWMAN

Working Waterfront

Op-ed: Jonesport fish farm threatens Downeast waters

The pristine and productive marine environment in Chandler and Englishman Bays where Jonesport, Roque Bluffs, and Roque Island are situated is now threatened by the plans of Kingfish Maine to build an industrial-sized, land-based fish farm in Jonesport. I am part of Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation, a family community,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Deer Isle causeway’s curvy history

The excellent article on the vulnerability of the Deer Isle causeway (The Working Waterfront, November issue) prompts me to add some history, as well as some things to consider when planning future modifications. Before the causeway was built, passage between Deer Isle and Little Deer, unless by boat, was at… SEE MORE

A rock cliff and sandy shore on the east side of Sears Island. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Offshore wind blows across Searsport

Have you heard there’s another plan to develop Sears Island in Searsport? The state is considering using 100 acres or so on the western shore as a site where enormous floating wind turbines will be built and then deployed to the Gulf of Maine as part of Maine’s renewable energy… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A better way to do tourism

Historically, the Office of Tourism focused its attention on advertising and marketing, enticing people to fill our hotels and enjoy everything Maine had to offer. This strategy has worked very successfully, spurring growth in visitation and spending and one of the nation’s most robust tourism recoveries following the pandemic. But… SEE MORE

Rockweed, bagged and piled at a Hancock Point boatyard. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Sharing the weight of rockweed science

On a recent Wednesday morning, a small group of volunteers walked the shoreline in Lamoine with buckets, mesh bags, large square plastic picture frames, and fish-weighing scales. Carefully picking their way across the slippery seaweed, they laid out transects, and began to count and weigh the rockweed, hefting pound after… SEE MORE