Working Waterfront

Shellfish, kelp may join lobster as cash ‘crops’

As fall approaches, lobstermen are seeing 3,000-pound days with lobsters at $4-$6 per pound. Emerging Asian markets and increased competition for supply from processors are two of the many factors driving this trend. Consumers of the McLobster roll might have helped, too. All of this good fortune deepens our economic… SEE MORE

Courtney Naliboff as Annie Oakley in the North Haven production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Working Waterfront

Teaching is doing, and teachers can do what they teach

There is a particularly odious saying that gets bandied about from time to time: "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." Rather than get my hackles up, I let it goad me into action. I teach music, theater and English. I studied music and theater as an undergrad at… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Chebeague Island and the tides of time

What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross – Ezra Pound, Canto LXXXI In the blue distance of inner Casco Bay, the smokestacks of the Cousins Island power plant could be seen poking into the sky. This was in 1980, looking northeast from the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A summer of learning, leadership along Maine coast

On Swan's Island, community leaders and nearly 200 residents debated the future of the Swan's Island Electric Cooperative, the ratepayer owned distributor of electricity on that island and nearby Frenchboro (Long Island). There is nothing so heartening as watching community members of diverse background and economic standing give stump… SEE MORE

Vinalhaven village as seen from the harbor.

Working Waterfront

A deal too good to be true

A few weeks ago, a big man burst into the Tidewater Motel lobby mid-morning carrying a half-dozen unmarked white cardboard boxes, each about 18-inches by 18-inches and 4-inches deep. He’d emerged from an unmarked white pickup that held three white chest freezers in its bed, tied down haphazardly with pot… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kelp as the new kale, and a possible carbon fix

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. “Blue carbon” is a term you might be hearing more often. It refers to marine vegetation that has an inherent ability to sequester carbon and mitigate the consequences of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Vegetated coastal habitats including seagrass meadows, mangrove… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Adventure, comfort blended in Café Miranda chef’s book

An anchor of Rockland’s restaurant scene, Café Miranda has maintained its popularity for over 20 years. These days its founder, Kerry Altiero, isn’t content to just rest on his laurels, hailed as Maine’s “pioneer chef” and a prize-winner in culinary competitions. His creative restlessness and curiosity still drive him to… SEE MORE

The boats to and from the Cranberry Isles are crowded in summer.

Working Waterfront

The real question is, ‘What’s island living like in summer?’

The Cranberry Isles get a ton of visitors in July and August. And why not? The islands are a beautiful place to wander and wonder about. It is not unusual to be asked, “Do you live here year round?” Most of the time a positive response is followed by the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

God bless the weeds

Islanders are lucky because they have a weed habitat—saltwater shoreline—that inlanders don’t, but no matter, we all have plentiful weedy places on which to graze. Like mainly our gardens. Well, maybe you don’t have a weedy garden but, Lord help me, I do. As luck would have it, the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winds of change blow through island schools

A mom who owns a small business arrives just in time, having raced home from her store to help get dinner on the table and then raced off again for a school board meeting. She joins her fellow board members, who include two other parents, a lobsterman grandfather, and a… SEE MORE