Island Institute is teaming up with the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs to launch the Fishing Plus Accelerator, a program for fishing families to explore new business opportunities to diversify their income in the face of climate and industry changes.
Tag: Marine Economy
Investing in Resilience
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under Blog.
Rising costs, environmental changes, and shifting markets are reshaping the backbone of Maine’s marine economy: the lobster industry. Island Institute is working with fishing families to navigate these challenges by supporting small business diversification to create new sources of income.
Day in Community: Jack Sullivan, Multimedia Storytelling
Posted by Renny Sabina & filed under Blog.
Join Island Institute’s multimedia storyteller, Jack Sullivan, for a day in his life of filming in Boothbay Harbor with the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Telling Our Own Story
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under Blog.
Folks from across Maine’s fishing communities gathered in Stonington for a train-the-trainer workshop co-hosted by the Island Institute. The objective: to prepare trusted local volunteers to support harvesters as they navigate new digital landings reporting requirements in the lobster industry.
Takeaways From the Forefront of Energy Innovation
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under Blog.
At the beginning of the month, several Island Institute team members attended a workshop put on by the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado. They share what they learned at the workshop, both from partner organizations and new energy systems.
Visibility Clears
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under In the news.
As conversations about the future of Maine State Ferry Service are progressing, Island Institute’s Nick Battista emphasized that the Ferry Service is a vital component of civic infrastructure that connects island communities to essential services and opportunities.
Fellows Secure Major Grants for Island & Coastal Communities
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under Blog.
At the start of the month, Governor Janet Mills announced the award of $8 million in grant funding through the state’s Community Resilience Partnership (CRP) to help communities protect people, businesses, and infrastructure from flooding, storm surge, and other climate effects. Three Island Institute Fellows––Claire Oxford, Thomas McClellan, and Alice Cockerham––helped their host communities apply for, and receive, thousands in Community Action Grant (CAG) funding.
Maine’s hardy lobster fishery had, seemingly, seen it all. Then came Trump’s trade wars.
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under In the news.
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.
It’s not just tariffs; broad economic uncertainty could weigh on Maine’s lobster industry
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under In the news.
Though Canada has placed tariffs on an initial round of U.S. goods worth some $30 billion, lobster is not on that list. Still, some members of the industry and economic experts worry that broader global economy uncertainty may drive down demand for the product in Maine.
Decoding the Future of Fishing
Posted by Gerogia Howe & filed under Blog.
Island Institute is betting on fishing families—their knowledge, their adaptability, and their willingness to invest in their futures. The Future of Fishing project, in partnership with Profit Decoder, is not about abandoning tradition. It’s about preserving what matters by being smarter about how we operate.
