Working Waterfront

Maine’s new jobs need a waterfront

I’m fascinated by working waterfronts—those extraordinary places along the Maine coast that link coastal communities to global trade, connect people to the ocean and good food to our tables, and provide a window onto our heritage and our future. These places also happen to be endangered. Here’s the problem: capturing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bringing our stories to our followers

NAME: Emma Perry TITLE: Impact and Event Specialist FOCUS: As the Impact and Event Specialist I play a key role in reporting on the impact of Island Institute’s work and overseeing the administration of the Glenn Fund Community Impact grants and scholarships. Through this work, I ensure our funding creates… SEE MORE

Belfast’s sardine packing plant under construction in the early 20th century. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

A sardine-packing plant’s 20th century history

The epicenter for the Maine sardine business at the turn of the 20th century was Downeast in Eastport and Lubec, but 50 years of heavy fishing pressure coupled with intense competition between packing companies in the area forced some of the companies to look for new opportunities down the coast.… SEE MORE

A view of Stonington Harbor, looking east. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

The serendipity of island life brings joy

I couldn’t have predicted that I’d soon be gripping the gunwale of a lobster boat, cheering and shouting alongside a lobstering family… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster fishery uncertainty—stay engaged

With chaos at the federal level these days, it is more important than ever to pay attention and stay engaged on topics we care about and support. For many of us on the Maine coast, that includes the lobster fishery. There is a lot happening—climate change, a new stock assessment,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering a friend and island helper

Bill was unusually gendered, and as a child and young adult on the island he struggled with the predictable torment—predictable at the time, but now, thankfully, fading. While his was a very difficult identity for us to quantify or for him to acknowledge and deal with when he was an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Food advice: It’s always something

Remember when we thought eggs were bad for us, high in cholesterol, eat one a week, think of them as a food equivalent of a hand grenade? Remember Egg Beaters? Eggs are now OK again. Remember the Fear of Fat era, when a package of watercress I bought had the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

School of rock

The band mounted the stage, confidently striding up the ramp to find their places behind the microphones and amplifiers. Earlier that afternoon they had loaded everything out of their practice space, working together as a team to make sure nothing was left behind. Their sound check was efficient, and they… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Confessing’ a love for place

Confessional poets are not usually confessing anything, but more accurately, using their own private emotions, events, and relationships… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Indigenous stories hit hard

This story collection comes with the author’s “trigger warning,” advising readers that they may be disturbed by issues including “racism, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, pregnancy loss, murder, physical abuse and drug abuse.” SEE MORE