New Program Aims to Help Lobstermen Adapt to Industry Changes

The nonprofit Island Institute is teaming up with the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs to launch the “Fishing Plus Accelerator.”

“The Fishing Plus program is really about helping fishing families explore new business opportunities to diversify their income,” Jeff Frank, a senior community development officer with the Island Institute, said.

Maine oyster farm launches its first electric workboat

Island Institute is proud to be part of the team that launched Heron—Maine’s first fully electric commercial aquaculture workboat of its size. Years in the making, this project showcases what’s possible when partners come together to deliver climate-friendly, innovative solutions for Maine’s working waterfronts.

Maine’s hardy lobster fishery had, seemingly, seen it all. Then came Trump’s trade wars.

Good seasons and bad. The ups and downs of government regulations. The growing threat of warming seas. But this year, the state’s thousands of lobstermen, and the thousands more whose livelihoods depend on the industry, are staring down a storm the likes they’ve never seen before. As President Trump wages an unprecedented protectionist campaign to impose or tease steep tariffs on nearly every trading partner, an industry that thrives on the free flow of global trade — and disposable cash in Americans’ wallets — could suffer disproportionately.