Casco Bay kelp farmer to test electric propulsion in commercial operation

A kelp farmer off Long Island in Casco Bay is the first participant in a pilot project by Island Institute and TEMO to test the real-world operational limits of low-voltage electric propulsion in the demanding environments of New England’s working waterfront.

Adaptation strategies among women on Maine’s working waterfront

A major research collaboration between College of the Atlantic, the University of Maine, Maine Sea Grant, and Island Institute is bringing new attention to the creative ways women along Maine’s coast are adapting their marine livelihoods amid rapid environmental and economic change.

New state entity to promote Maine’s marine economy

The new entity, created by the Legislature, aims to leverage Maine’s clean ocean brand to foster jobs, investment, and new business ventures across a range of marine-based sectors. Establishing a state-sponsored economic development initiative focused on ocean-centered industry was the top recommendation of the Blue Economy Task Force.

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.