Jeff Frank speaks at the Maine Fishermen's Forum. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Jeff Frank and the ‘Future of Fishing’

Name: Jeff Frank Title: Senior community development officer in Island Institute’s Center for Marine Economy Focus: I lead the business support work for the Future of Fishing program. This initiative is designed to help Maine’s fishing families and coastal communities navigate the economic uncertainty facing the lobster industry. My work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A letter from an island in winter

Dear friend—How was your winter? It wasn’t too bad staying here on the island, but February was kind of rough. Days and days of temperatures below 20 degrees and a lot of wind. Ferries seemed to be canceled one or two days every week. That was hard on everyone; both… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

What sports should be

Over my two decades at North Haven Community School, I've developed a fondness for basketball. Not televised basketball (although I, too, was swept up in the women's NCAA excitement last year) or any basketball where I haven't known the players since birth, or at least kindergarten. Just the North Haven… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Imagine island EMS at night… without the ferry

You’re cold, you’re uncomfortable, and you’re frightened. While the EMTs have been performing their assessments and interventions, the driver has been trying to arrange transportation. It’s essential that you are taken to a hospital for imaging as quickly as possible. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A candid conversation with Swan’s Island’s Candis Joyce

Candis Joyce, 57, is director of the Swan's Island Educational Society (SIES), which is housed in a bright, attractive building constructed in 2011, and which, despite its name, functions as a combination library, museum, historical society and learning center. And in October 2015, when we talked, Joyce was winding down… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Twice to the island for Jon Bolduc

Islesboro has a personal and professional hold on Jon Bolduc, and for good reason, as he explains. Bolduc, 31, moved with his family to the Penobscot Bay island when he was a child. “My mom and dad were both teachers,” he explains. “They got positions the same year,” at the… SEE MORE

David Lunt in his later years. PHOTO: NICOLE WOLF

Working Waterfront

Remembering David Lunt, my father

He was blessed with a sharp mind and operated on instinct (he was not fond of “process”) to help pull his hometown into a more modern world. And he worked tirelessly with state agencies and organizations, such as Island Institute, to push new ideas in a constant struggle to keep it alive. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A YEAR LATER—Waterfront business owners reflect on storms

“That afternoon, all the fishermen showed up to help,” Chipman recalled, a theme among the panelists, crediting the larger community with assisting in stabilizing the properties. SEE MORE

Minna Page, a cannery worker, inside Stinson's Cannery in Belfast in 1990. PHOTO: PEGGY MCKENNA COLLECTION/PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

When the Maine coast was ‘Sardineland’

In the mid-20th century, there were some 75 sardine canneries operating along the Maine coast, so calling the region “sardine land” wouldn’t be hyperbole. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport is diving into the history of that once robust sector of the marine economy in its spring exhibit, “Sardineland: Boom,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Preserving our island and coastal history

Ideally, you should be able to pick up an Island Journal from 15 years ago and find something interesting to read. Early in my tenure editing the magazine, I leaned too heavily on stories that were newsier, and I heard from some readers that this was not their preference. SEE MORE