October 28, 2016

Kelp company approved for long-term lease

A Casco Bay company that bills itself as the country’s first open-water commercial kelp farm got state approval Friday to convert a temporary seaweed plot off Chebeague Island into a 10-year lease, giving it the financial and regulatory certainty it needs to support the expansion of its Saco processing operation.
October 27, 2016

Teacher can lavish attention on island’s school’s students

Dick Broom provides a profile of Jan Keiper, the lone teacher in the town of Frenchboro on the remote offshore island of Long Island. According to the 2010 census, the town had a population of 61. The estimated 2015 population was 79, but residents say the year-round population is no more than 40. In this article, Keiper talks about the advantages and challenges of teaching in a tiny school on a remote island, including support received through the Island Institute’s Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative. 
October 24, 2016

Salmon and seaweed — not just good for you, good for the ocean

ROCKLAND — Lobster and blueberries might get most of the media attention when it comes to Maine’s most iconic foods, but salmon and seaweed are the hottest products these day. On Oct. 16, Good Tern Co-op in Rockland put the focus on Maine’s most promising up-and-coming exports with their Salmon Cookout & Seafood Celebration. The event took place from noon to 4 p.m with the Co-op offering grilled salmon and seaweed salads, and free iced tea and spring water.
October 23, 2016

Annie Tselikis runs the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association

Annie Tselikis is the executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association, and the marketing director for Maine Coast, a York-based wholesaler of lobster and seafood. In this interview with the Portland Press Herald, Tselikis talks about her career so far, including her deckhand days, a 2006 fellowship in Stonington through the Island Institute, work with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and the lobster industry and sustainability.
October 17, 2016

On Isle au Haut, Maine's economic woes are magnified

Mainebiz reporter James McCarthy visits Isle au Haut and learns about the complexities and challenges of living off the coast of Maine, as well as how the entrepreneurial spirit you find in a small island community, with a year-round population of just under 40 residents, has less to do with making things and everything to do with building a sustainable community.
October 12, 2016

$143K in fed funds for island communities awarded to Island Institute

The Island Institute, in Rockland, has been selected to receive a USDA Rural Development Rural Community Development Initiative Grant in the amount of $143,350 to build capacity and provide technical assistance to the rural Maine island communities of Vinalhaven, Frenchboro, and Eastport. The grant will provide Vinalhaven, Frenchboro, and Eastport with  support through Fellows who will work alongside the communities to develop opportunities in education, grow the creative economy, and improve critical emergency management services for island residents.
September 30, 2016

Unplugging a way of life: Maine island eyes trading local control for cheaper electricity

On Swan’s Island and other islands, high energy costs have been a fact of life. Many places are considering how to change that, but the situation on each island is unique. “About the only thing the islands in Maine have in common is that they’re islands,” Schwabe said. Some, such as Swan’s Island, have connections to the mainland. Others generate all of their own electricity through a local utility and have no connection, such as Harbor Island, which guards Burnt Coat Harbor and sits in view of the Swan’s Island cooperative.
September 14, 2016

Looking For Broadband Down East? Check It Out Of The Library

"There are efforts underway to increase rural internet access. Briana Warner is the economic director for the Island Institute, which is working to help island communities with similar problems. Warner points to the island of Islesboro, which is planning a $3 million project to get gigabit-speed connection. She says every town doesn’t need to go that far, but she thinks it’s important for both educating students and making them want to come back after college."
August 3, 2016

Smith: Creating a better Maine

"As you struggle to recover from two disappointing national political conventions, perhaps this news will help. Let’s focus on the wonderful work of three Maine organizations: Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI), Island Institute and the Maine Community Foundation.
July 28, 2016

How two of Maine’s first year-round artists made Maine an arts destination

"Stell Shevis — and her artist husband, William (known as “Shevis”), who died in 2010 — moved to Belmont in 1945 at a time when artists who could make a living in Maine year-round were rare. Despite Maine’s longstanding importance as a source of inspiration for artists, most of the artists associated with the state before then were seasonal residents, who spent summers on the coast before returning to Boston, New York, or Philadelphia to sell their work.