Working Waterfront

Raise a pint to remember David Geary

The death of David Geary earlier this summer invites consideration of his contribution to craft beer in Maine. To understand his influence, it’s helpful to remember how dire the American beer scene used to be. In 1980, only about a hundred breweries existed, down from 750 in 1935. Nearly all… SEE MORE

An image of herring seining off Vinalhaven in 1957, photographed by Life magazine’s Eliot Elisofon. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

When a Life photographer captured a herring harvest

Seining for herring—known in the seafood market as sardines—was a common sight on the Maine coast in 1957, but there is nothing common about the accompanying photograph. It is the work of a photographic master as evidenced in its composition and timing. Looking at the image below, you’re met with… SEE MORE

A stage CV Calanus finmarchicus from the Gulf of Maine, showing its lipid oil sac.

Working Waterfront

Tiny copepod plays outsized role

The world’s oceans are teeming with plankton, microscopic life that move where the currents take them. Among the plankton are algal cells called phytoplankton and single-celled and multicellular animals called zooplankton. A vertical tow with a fine-mesh net deployed just about anywhere in the ocean will yield animal plankton. While… SEE MORE

A summer scene off Stonington. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Stonington launches resilience strategy

The Hancock County town of Stonington is launching an economic resiliency strategy to complement its 2018 comprehensive plan and to proactively respond to current and future challenges and changes impacting the town’s ability to thrive as a year-round community. The analysis and action plan was commissioned in the spring of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven takes action on housing

The Vinalhaven Housing Initiative (VHI) has been established to create year-round affordable, sustainable housing options for decent and safe housing that is affordable to lower- and middle-income individuals and families, senior citizens, and physically challenged people who would otherwise be unable to afford rental or homes due to rapidly escalating… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Portland to sell building to island group

An affordable housing advocacy group has unveiled renderings of a building with three apartments that it plans to have constructed and occupied by next June on Peaks Island. Home Start, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the pool of affordable housing on Peaks, has entered into a purchase-and-sales agreement with the… SEE MORE

Participants at a Build Maine conference work at creating a hypothetical housing development following a zoning ordinance. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

On the record with… GrowSmart Maine’s Nancy Smith

When Nancy Smith first came to Maine in 1981, she was thinking, professionally, about the growth of trees and forests. Today, her work focuses on ensuring that Maine communities retain their character and function. Or, in other words, that they grow smart. Smith grew up in Connecticut and went to… SEE MORE

A fishing boat hauls traps with Stonington in the background. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

A curated coast—stories preserved and amplified

If you visit 44 North Coffee’s Stonington location through mid-October, you’ll notice something different about the beloved cafe. This year, 44 North is hosting an exhibit of photographs, audio stories, and a soundwalk by The First Coast, a collective of storytellers and documentarians that I helped curate. Founded in 2016… SEE MORE

An aerial veiew of Scarborough Marsh from May 2021. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

A delicate dance between sea and land

Behind the forested dunes of Popham Beach, where the Kennebec River finally meets the sea, is an extensive salt marsh. Great blue herons hunt for eels amid blooms of sea lavender and milkwort; saltmarsh sparrows search for spiders in the grass. As in all marshes, the grasses and rushes each… SEE MORE

Gabe Pendleton of Pendleton Yacht Yard takes an Island Institute's Alex Kravitz for a spin around Rockland Harbor in a boat powered by a 40-horsepower electric outboard. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Electric outboards show their stuff

In an effort to “electrify the working waterfront” in Maine, staff from Island Institute (publisher of The Working Waterfront) along with Gabe Pendleton, owner of Pendleton Yacht Yard on Islesboro, put new electric outboards through their paces on Rockland Harbor on July 27. Pendleton Yacht Yard’s new fully electric boat,… SEE MORE