Working Waterfront

Alcohol and fishing don’t have to be partners

Fishermen have long been stereotyped as heavy drinkers, a perception reinforced in media, pop culture, and even within their own communities. This assumption creates a damaging cycle. When people expect fishermen to drink, it normalizes excessive alcohol use... SEE MORE

A view of the shore of Peaks Island. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Smart housing: focus on density and character

The state faces a decision—how can we maintain the character of non-urban life while encouraging the building necessary to house the working- and middle-class people struggling to find consistent housing? SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A better way to do highway commerce

It was a sad, maybe even pathetic sight, but it caught my eye. I was driving through the busy commercial strip on Route 3, just west of Route 1 in Belfast, and I saw an excavator, its arm resting in a partially demolished building. It took me a moment, but… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A home for all

I had the opportunity recently to join a 20th anniversary celebration of North Haven Sustainable Housing (NHSH), one of the leading models of housing solutions along the coast. Since 2005, NHSH has demonstrated that the people who make island communities thrive can, in fact, have beautiful homes that are affordable… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Finally, a plan to remediate Penobscot River mercury

Some tiny bottom-dwelling organisms may have to be sacrificed for the health of a Penobscot River cove. But because these critters play an important role in the ecosystem, scientists hope to observe a temporary decline in their population along the intertidal flats of Orrington’s East Cove 3 when permits are… SEE MORE

The approach the ferry service takes to the Fox Islands Thorofare. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Coast Guard in the fog over buoys

In an apparent effort to demonstrate that it takes the Trump administration’s war on “fraud, waste, and abuse” seriously, the U.S. Coast Guard plans to discontinue—remove—more than 150 buoys and other aids to navigation, such as fixed “daybeacons,” from Maine’s coastal waters. The Coast Guard’s stated rationale for the planned… SEE MORE

Ropeless lobster gear is demonstrated in Jonesport. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

More testing in the works for on-demand lobster gear

As temperatures warm, the Maine lobster season is beginning in earnest. The fishery, one of the strongest remaining owner-operator in the world, known for its adaptability and heritage, has seen its share of change. Today the industry finds itself on the cusp of another possible change with the introduction of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Uh, oh, Canada: International travel concerns

The Canadian maple leaf flag cast a long shadow over the annual Maine Governor’s Tourism Conference in Bangor on April 16-17. Following President Donald Trump saying he wanted to make the country to the north the 51st U.S. state and imposing trade tariffs, fears among the Maine tourism industry were… SEE MORE

Business

A passenger disembarks the ferry on Islesboro. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Ferry rates proposed to increase… again

Just a year after raising its fares, the Maine State Ferry Service is proposing another rate hike to meet what it says are unanticipated rising costs. Ticket prices for walk-on passengers and vehicles would rise by about 13.5%, the service reports, in its proposal aired at a public hearing on… SEE MORE

Grant Taylor, vice president of warehouses at Taylor Logistics, left, and Evan Cassidy, operations manager at the facility, pose inside the new cold stoage building at the Port of Portland. PHOTO: CLARKE CANFIELD

Working Waterfront

Portland greets its deep freeze

The freezer will save time and cut transportation costs for businesses that now rely on Boston, New York, and other out-of-state locations for freezer storage for their products. A 2017 study by University of Southern Maine business students estimated that its annual economic impact could be $500-$900 million. SEE MORE