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.
Please join us to support this important nonprofit journalism.
- Community
- People
- Opinion
- Environment
- Marine
- Inter-island News
- Business
- Columns
- Arts
- Education
- Book Review
- Climate Change
- Cranberry Report
- Journal of an Island Kitchen
- Salt Water Cure
- Op Ed
- Reflections
- Observer
- Fathoming
- Field Notes
- Rockbound
- Essay
- Energy
- Editorial
- Letters to the Editor
- In Plain Sight
- Wrack Line
- From The Sea Up
- Dispatches from World Ocean Observatory
March 20
Periwinkles an under-heralded seafood product
Invasive species arrived on our shores 200 years ago, still have impact
Life is rough in the intertidal zone. Barnacles with their heads cemented to rock and pilings wait for the tide to rise so they can resume combing for plankton with their legs. Rockweed collapses on boulders and ledges at low tide and wafts upright at high. Crabs root around in it, scouring for mussels, algae, worms and, also, periwinkles, which…
March 20
Pingree reintroduces bill to protect working waterfronts
Legislation would offer grants to protect access, infrastructure for water-dependent businesses
In late February, Chellie Pingree (D-North Haven), Maine’s 1st District representative, reintroduced legislation with Republican Rob Wittman of Virginia to protect the kind of waterfront access and infrastructure that many…
March 20
Shrimp future remains cloudy
Restaurants moving away from Maine catch
The continued closure of Maine’s shrimp fishery puts a strain on some of the state’s fishermen, but is having little impact on Maine’s restaurants, where the local seafood had been…
March 20
The renewal of trust reminds me why I am here
Sharing beliefs over beer can chip away at iced-in status
I had a rough winter. A few unrelated events made me question, for the first time in a long time, my comfort level in the community I've called home for…
March 20
This teacher treats his students like research assistants
Northport teacher John Van Dis has middle school class growing kelp, raising salmon
In his classroom at the Edna Drinkwater School in Northport, John Van Dis asks questions before he knows their answers. It’s an unusual approach for a teacher to take, but…
March 20
Winter on the islands is unpredictable, and not so quiet
Planning ahead for the necessary flexibility makes it all work out
“Predictably unpredictable.” That’s my new answer for people who ask, in the summer, what it is like living on an island in the winter. I used to say “quiet,” which…
March 20
Wulp’s poems prove wit, insight, reflection sharpen with age
Vinalhaven’s renaissance man aims to produce accessible, yet honest work
Cormorant Time: A Madman’s Journal. Poems Written in a Time of Fever by John Wulp. Camden, Maine: Philip Conkling & Associates, 2016. 190 pp. “Can one man have been a…
March 16
A school for 'that kid who just wants to work on the water'
Maine Ocean School, a public magnet high school, plans to open in Searsport area in 2018
There’s a lot of work to be done before it opens its doors, but Eric Jergenson likes to point out that the Maine Ocean School already exists. No, it’s not…
March 15
Cranberry Isles approves deal to establish broadband
Town votes 52-4 to spend up to $1.2 million
Another Maine island community moved to secure a high-speed internet future when Cranberry Isles voters supported a plan to borrow up to $1.2 million to establish a broadband network at…
March 15
Sellam Circus School coming to Vinalhaven, coast, this summer
Participants asked to register this month for Vinalhaven camp
A circus arts school recently formed in Biddeford will bring classes to the coast this summer. The Sellam Circus School, founded by Sellam El Ouahabi and Amity Stoddard, will offer…
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.
SIGN UP FOR OUR
E-WEEKLY
Get the latest articles from the Working Waterfront delivered to your inbox every week.
SIGN UP NOWTHE WORKING WATERFRONT
LATEST ISSUE
A nonprofit publication of the Island Institute which has been published for over 20 years.
LEARN MORE