Working Waterfront

On the record with lobster scientist Bob Steneck

Bob Steneck can now add to his already impressive resumé membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The work that led to that honor for the former University of Maine professor came from donning scuba gear and messing around with critters on the sea floor. Steneck suspects it… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering Susan Jones: A guiding light

The Maine fishing industry lost a guiding light when Susan Jones passed away in early September in Stonington at the age of 78. Her leadership shaped the fishermen’s newspaper, Commercial Fisheries News (CFN), for 40 years, from the early 1980s until her retirement in 2014, during which it was the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saving Marshall Point

One of the Maine coast’s most recognizable, beloved—and accessible—scenes might have had another fate. In 1988, a rumor circulated through St. George—which includes the villages of Port Clyde, Tenants Harbor, and Martinsville—that the Marshall Point Lighthouse would be converted into a hotel and resort property. This is the iconic site… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A season for readying

I think of late October and early November as the “readying season.” We learn to adjust our timing and be flexible with changing arrangements. The mailboat, on its winter schedule, runs three boats a day between Northeast Harbor and the islands. Road construction has picked up on the mainland and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Finding home within home rule

At a recent Damariscotta Select Board meeting, the public heard a proposal for a joint public works department between Damariscotta and neighboring Newcastle. Both towns have been working together to visualize... SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Turning to the sun

NAME: Skye Butterson-Dunn TITLE: Community Development Officer FOCUS: I work in the Center for Climate and Community on the Resilient Energy team at Island Institute, where we support Maine’s island and coastal communities in building energy resilience. We do this through strategic energy planning, forming partnerships with national, state, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Historic Eastport mansion restored to new life

One of Eastport’s behemothic houses—a remnant of the port’s mercantile legacy—has been saved from demolition. Beyond its historic value, the Isaac Hobbs mansion carries a vital connection to stories much larger than its own. One of the last stops on the Underground Railroad and the former home of Don Gellers,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The state of local journalism

An Oct. 30 event honoring Tom Groening, the retiring editor of The Working Waterfront and Island Journal, was as much a toast to his own career as it was an uneasy reflection on the important but precarious role journalism plays in the world. The event opened with remarks by Colin… SEE MORE

Lauren Stevens sang during an event in Veazie on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. At the event, the audio version was released of a report documenting how Wabanaki people have lost access to sea run fish. PHOTO: CATHERINE SCHMITT

Working Waterfront

How Wabanaki access to sea run fish is changing

For thousands of years, Wabanaki people were sustained by “sea run” fish that moved between rivers and the ocean. Fish evolved this migratory strategy to ensure they would reproduce successfully, but it also resulted in abundant and nutritious food for people, as hundreds of thousands of salmon and millions of… SEE MORE

Cushing fisherman Danny Staples handles recently caught lobster at his private wharf in October. Staples has led a town effort to buy a nearby property and make it into the community’s first public working waterfront. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Shoring up Cushing’s working waterfront

Longtime fisherman Danny Staples has his own wharf on Pleasant Point Gut in Cushing, where he and several others can access the water, land lobster, and do some maintenance of their vessels. But that piece of waterfront didn’t help Staples this past fall, when his boat’s rudder broke as he… SEE MORE