Working Waterfront

The road trip, part III

I will remind the reader that in early 2017 Elaine found just what we were looking for right next door, in New Hampshire. It was a 2003 white VW Eurovan Camper, in perfect condition, having been loved and cared for during 14 years by only two devoted owners. It was… SEE MORE

Boats rigged for scallop dragging moored in Lubec.

Working Waterfront

Washington County business imports new scallop drag

It’s the difference between a snowplow and a rake. The traditional way of harvesting scallops, the high-value seafood now in season, uses a dredge, or drag. Heavy chains or steel hardware scrape across the bottom, tossing the scallop shells upward, where they are caught in a bag. Inevitably, some of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two scientists win fellowships in Washington D.C.

Since 1979, the National Sea Grant College Program has administered one of the nation’s most prestigious marine policy fellowship programs, sending over 1,200 professionals with backgrounds in science, policy, management, and law to Washington, D.C. Knauss Fellows are matched with offices in the legislative or executive branch of government for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands I like, others that are navigational hazards

Obviously, I like islands. I live on one and find that I like to vacation on them—Cyprus, England, the Orkneys off Scotland’s north coast, Hawaii, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Key West, St. John in the Virgin Islands, and I aspire to visit Iceland. I just don’t like islands… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The North Haven effect

Winter is the time when North Haven’s diaspora spreads far and wide. Sure, the core 350 of us stay put, keeping the lights on at Waterman’s, the school, the store, and the church; plowing the roads and fixing burst pipes; and carrying on living in our home town. But there… SEE MORE

Robbie Begin and his crew bring a purse seine full of pogies up alongside his boat Pogie Patrol.

Working Waterfront

Return of menhaden, bigger quotas, good news for Maine

Wherever there’s an abundance of Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast, there, too, is an abundance of other wildlife—humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins, striped bass and bluefish, and bald eagles and osprey. That’s because menhaden, commonly called “pogies” by fishermen, are a key forage species. “When we saw the pogies… SEE MORE

JB Turner of Belfast's Front Street Shipyard speaks at the Island Institute's Waypoints Forum in Portland on Jan. 19. At left is the Island Instiute's Briana Warner. At far right is Mark Ouellette of Axiom Technologies

Working Waterfront

From patriarchy and matriarchy to process

On Jan. 19, the Island Institute hosted its second annual Waypoints Forum in Portland. (Videos of the presentations can be seen here.) The theme this year was “Waterfront Futures.” During a panel we called “Big Ideas on the Waterfront,” we heard from business owners who have placed big bets on the future… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘And the Sparrow Fell,’ a tragedy of heroism and healing

It’s the story of a boy, a girl, and another boy. But Robert Mrazek’s latest novel, And the Sparrow Fell, is not quite a love story. Yes, college student Rick falls hard for Kate, only to learn she’s with his brother Tom, and conflict ensues. But the larger tensions that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Norway firm plans $400 million land-based salmon farm in Belfast

From left: Elizabeth Ransom (Ransom Consulting), Lars-Henrik Røren (Chairman of NAF), Sen. Angus King, Erik Heim (CEO and founder of Nordic Aquafarms), and Peter DelGreco and Ashley Pringle (Maine & Co). A Norway-based company is planning to build the world’s largest land-based Atlantic salmon-raising operation in Belfast, the firm’s CEO… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Three takes on making connections

A letter recently landed on my desk from a reader of The Working Waterfront. The man, who lives in New Harbor, receives the newspaper in his mailbox; we mail the paper to everyone on Maine’s 15 year-round islands, as well to all of Mount Desert Island, the Blue Hill-Stonington peninsula,… SEE MORE