The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
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Saltwater Cure
April 21

Food is an anchor of normalcy

What will historians make of our culinary challenges?
It’s very close to the one-year anniversary of “quarantimes” as I write this column. On March 13, 2020, our students had their last day of in-person school for the year, although we didn’t know it at the time. We shut everything down—for two weeks, then for a month, then for the rest of the school year. We hoped for a…
Courtney Naliboff
April 21

The ocean as natural capital

A different economic analysis is in order now
Standing onshore, we perceive the ocean as locality, the curve of the beach, the limit of the harbor, and as universality, the infinite inclusion beyond a distant horizon. We can…
Peter Neill
Shredding Paper
April 21

Why paper was king, and why it was deposed

Energy, environment, and competition changed a way of life
Shredding Paper: The Rise and Fall of Maine’s Mighty Paper Industry By Michael G. Hillard Understanding Maine’s once-gigantic paper industry and what happened to it is a matter of perspective.…
David D. Platt
York River
April 21

Delegation hopeful York River gets scenic designation

Reintroduced bill would bring federal funds, protection
Maine’s Congressional delegation has reintroduced the “York River Wild and Scenic River Act,” legislation to initiate the final step in the process to add the river to the National Park…
Staff
Tom Meyers
April 21

On the record with... Tom Meyers of the Waterfront Alliance

Tom Meyers has spent his professional life as an active member of working waterfronts. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard for 28 years and as the head of the…
Frances Mize
CMP meter
April 21

A Maine power company: possible and practical

Put electricity back into the hands of ratepayers
As Maine grapples with decarbonizing its economy to meet ambitious climate mitigation goals, I urge us to think big and consider what a statewide, ratepayer-owned electric utility could do to…
Sam May
ROCK BOUND
April 21

Ships, the Suez Canal, and our three ports

Transportation by water will be part of climate change fix
Assuming I have your attention, I am now going to ask you to look up and around the room in which you are sitting. What percentage of the things in…
Tom Groening
April 15

Halibut—a huge, thrilling, and tasty fish

Month-long season on this flatfish begins May 18
“Once you’ve caught a halibut, you’ll never be the same, if you like fishing,” said Erik Waterman, a commercial fisherman who lives in South Thomaston and fishes out of Spruce…
Laurie Schreiber
Camden King Tide
April 14

Federal flood insurance evolved, but not for the best

Congress has taken a piecemeal approach to a worsening problem
[caption id="attachment_24986" align="alignleft" width="300"] The King Tide in Camden.[/caption] In the February/March issue of The Working Waterfront, Peter Neill of the World Ocean Observatory suggested using flood insurance premiums to…
Steve Whitney
April 14

Is ropeless fishing ready for prime time?

Researchers already use this technology
[caption id="attachment_24983" align="alignleft" width="300"] PHOTO: COURTESY BLUE PLANET STRATEGIES[/caption] As the North Atlantic right whale population declines rapidly, regulators have proposed or enacted a series of closures of significant areas…
Craig Idlebrook

Island Postcards

EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining

Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.

WATCH ALL ISLAND POSTCARDS

 

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