Working Waterfront

Multiple approaches to addressing worker shortage

The days of finding large numbers of pre-trained and experienced workers are fast fading. Businesses across Maine—and the nation—have had trouble finding the available, qualified workers they need to operate at full capacity. In fact, there are currently about two open jobs for every unemployed job seeker in the state… SEE MORE

From left, the Island Institute's Eastport Island Fellow Paige Atkinson; Institute staff Alex Zipparo; Mount Desert Island Fellow Brianna Cunliffe; and Institute staffer Abby Roche.

Working Waterfront

Resilience is the response

I was on Great Cranberry Island for a community event recently and encountered a sight that will not be easily forgotten. As I stood on the dock awaiting the mailboat back to mainland, I looked to the west and saw several gravestones on a grassy enclave that were dangerously close… SEE MORE

The Machigonne II on its way to Peaks Island. FILE PHOTO: MICHELE STAPLETON

Working Waterfront

New ferries on the way for Maine

[caption id="attachment_35572" align="alignnone" width="700"] The Margaret Chase Smith on Islesboro. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING[/caption] New ferries, the vital link between Maine islands and the mainland, are in the pipeline. In recent months, construction has started on ferries to serve Peaks Island in Casco Bay and Matinicus off Penobsot Bay, and… SEE MORE

Gov. Janet Mill, left, poses with Paul Coulombe in front of TV cameras at the Governor’s Tourism Conference in Bangor on March 28. Coulombe was honored with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Tourism for his philanthropy and commercial development work in Boothbay Harbor. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Another good year for Maine tourism

Maine’s tourism economy rarely seems to enjoy a normal year. Factors such as fluctuating gas prices and airline fares, terrorist attacks, and pandemics play their part in either inflating or deflating visitation. But despite these variables, the numbers make the case that tourism remains a major economic sector in the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Free community college gets good marks

Emma Brezovsky, 18, a senior at Bucksport High School, wants to become a teacher. To achieve that goal, she knows she needs a bachelor’s degree. “My original plan was just going to be four years at [University of Maine] Farmington,” she said. “But now I’m going to do two at… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Listening for right whales

You might think keeping track of a 100,000 pound animal would be easy. But when its home has no boundaries and its prey moves with changing ocean circulation within the vast Atlantic, it presents a challenge. Then there’s the fact that there are only around 350 remaining and they aren’t… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The shameful history of a ‘notorious’ slave ship captain

[caption id="attachment_35121" align="alignnone" width="700"] A newspaper report on a slave ship arriving in Kittery.[/caption] Maine has a proud history of seafaring captains who braved the open ocean in pursuit of trade and fish. Capt. Frederick Drinkwater is not one of them. Drinkwater, according to research completed and presented by Kate… SEE MORE

Katie Ashley, a plant science Ph.D student at the University of Maine, poses with potato bins filled with lobster shells.

Working Waterfront

Lobster shells may protect potato crop

Scientists at the University of Maine are studying lobster shells as a possible aid to microbial communities to ward off soilborne potato pathogens. The novel shell-to-spud combination may connect two cornerstones of Maine’s food system and enhance the state’s circular economy. Potatoes are Maine’s top agricultural commodity with a value… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fear of aquaculture not couched in reality

An article in the February/March issue The Working Waterfront outlined the fact that an increasing number of coastal towns in Maine fear, and are interposing regulatory measures that bar or limit, new and/or expanded aquaculture activities in their respective towns (“Towns fear, fight aquaculture expansion”). Similar (and somewhat stronger) views… SEE MORE

Hoa (Flower) Truong, left, and Hoa Le prepare food.

Working Waterfront

Vietnamese street food meets Maine seafood in Brunswick

At Fishermen’s Net Seafood Restaurant & Market in Brunswick, the new owners are infusing the flavors of Vietnam in their cuisine with Bánh Mì, a traditional Vietnamese sandwich. Co-owner Hoa (Flower) Truong, 30, purchased Fishermen’s Net on Forest Avenue in Portland in 2018 with her cousin, Quang Nguyen, 33, who… SEE MORE