Rebekah Hodgson poses at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland. PHOTO: COURTESY HODGSON FAMILY

Working Waterfront

Mrs. Maine is the real deal

In Rebekah Hodgson’s earliest memory of lobstering, she’s on her father’s boat and they’ve just anchored off of Jonesboro’s Looks Point to visit her great uncle Scott, who gave her a banana. “I must have been about four years old,” recalls Hodgson, now 32. “I remember getting back on the… SEE MORE

The view from Little Deer Isle. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Recognizing an island’s landmarks

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. As an Iowa native, I didn’t know there were islands off the coast of Maine before applying to be an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine won’t sit still for its close-up

You may have read the now-infamous New York Post travelogue about Maine, or perhaps you read or saw the headlines and reactions it generated here. Long story short, a woman from the Post—who, she emphasized, has traveled EVERYWHERE—came to Maine and found it underdressed and overweight. I’m not sure if… SEE MORE

From left: Scott Firmin, Dan Devereaux, Ivy Frignoca, Will Everitt, and Fred Dillon. PHOTO: COURTESY FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY

Working Waterfront

Casco Bay group honors clean water heroes

Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca announced the three recipients of the 2022 Casco Bay Awards at Friends of Casco Bay’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act and members annual meeting earlier this summer. Award recipients were recognized for their exceptional efforts to address pollution and climate change… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Six ‘Brookie’ winners named

Six young changemakers from across Maine were honored with the latest round of Brookie Awards by the Natural Resources Council of Maine for their leadership and effectiveness tackling a wide range of environmental issues. The diverse group includes college and high school student activists and scientists, ranging in age from… SEE MORE

Tina Ingraham’s Harbor Fish Market, Portland Pier, 2005, oil on canvas, 30 x 74 inches. PHOTO: DENNIS GRIGGS

Working Waterfront

Tina Ingraham paints the Custom House Wharf

The facade of the south side of the Harbor Fish Market reminded Ingraham of the Italian architecture she had seen in Perugia dating back to Etruscan times... SEE MORE

#1: Pam Cabañas, Pushed Off, 2022, compressed charcoal on Baltic birch panel, 36 by 48 inches. Photo Eli Cabañas #2: Cabañas in her skiff, the P/V (painting vessel) Skiffy with her dog Jesse in Friendship Harbor. Photo Jane Herbert

Working Waterfront

Finding ‘Monument Valley’ in Friendship Harbor

Pam Cabañas has been living in Friendship for going on 20 years. She keeps a skiff in the harbor and her son Eli is a sternman on the F/V Miss Kristen. A longtime member of the town’s board of assessors, which she currently chairs, Cabañas is, in her words, “pretty… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Maine coast goes electric

Sandy Oliver should be getting paid the big bucks by Tesla’s marketing team. Describing how she snuggles up to her smartphone to gaze lovingly at the app for her Powerwall—Tesla’s in-home backup battery system—Sandy builds a visceral connection for the otherwise esoteric and dull topic of energy resilience. “When the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Strawberries, peas, and corn

When I was a child in Central Maine, summer meant rowing my inflatable dinghy around Silver Lake, eating macaroni salad with green olives on the screened-in porch, and reading for hours in the swing chair. The scent of hawkweed, daisies, and Timothy grass radiated from the side of the road… SEE MORE

Community Shellfish FILE PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Reviving lobster pounds as oyster farms

Few places exemplify the resilient and sustainable coastal communities than the aptly named Community Shellfish in Bremen. The seafood distributor connects local independent fishermen to a wider market hungry for high-quality lobsters, clams, and oysters. The harbor, fueling station, and fully equipped dock at Community Shellfish’s facility on the Medomak… SEE MORE