By Patty Minerich The Working Waterfront’s analysis of Boothbay Harbor’s recent planning conflicts by Edgar Allen Beem (“The last fisherman?” February/March issue) fails to understand that the situation is more complicated than anyone who isn’t living it could believe. As one selectman said at a recent meeting, people aren’t lining up to invest in Boothbay Harbor and the only person interested in…

PEACH FREDERICK A bait bin being lifted at Rockland's Fish Pier. By Susie Arnold There is no question that herring is going to be in short supply in 2019 and…

By David Wylie Down East magazine chose Rockland in 2018 as the best place to live in Maine. We have come a long way. From the plywood windows on Main Street…

Hello Sailor T-shirt By Sally Noble//Photos by Michele Stapleton A happily married couple, they packed their memories of long, lazy summer vacations—like that of their first meeting, in 2003, at…

By Tom Groening Now that I have six years under my belt here at the Island Institute, I’ve begun—cautiously—to accept a few speaking engagements, holding forth on the topic of…

By Phil Crossman When I was a Vinalhaven youngster, I lived on the western side of Armbrust Hill. It seemed enormous. A little pond, the Trolley Puddle, was nestled under…

By Rob Snyder Communities are largely absent from national discussions of how to address climate change. Instead they are featured as victims. As a result, we are missing a major…

By Dana Wilde Long ago, when I was a kid growing up in Southern Maine, we made road trips to Massachusetts to visit my father’s family. This was the late…

By Stephanie Bouchard In the last weeks of 2018, Luke’s Lobster, a restaurant group with Maine roots, announced it is opening its first Portland-based restaurant. It will be the second…

By Shirley Barlow My friend Mikki owns a house on Matinicus Island. She and her late husband, a merchant marine seaman and lobster fisherman, spent most of their lives on…