Working Waterfront

Scallops and me

I have a short and complicated history with scallops. Growing up in Maryland, my fondness for seafood mostly extended to the basics: canned tuna; flaky white fish; some crab, shrimp, and shellfish; occasional lobster and salmon. I don’t remember starting to eat scallops until a decade ago, and they quickly… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A path to electrifying Maine’s working waterfronts

Maine's coast is beautiful, with mountains to mudflats, pine trees to pebbles. It is more than a scenic backdrop; it is an economic hub for the marine economy. The working waterfronts of Maine are home to one of the most productive lobster fisheries in the world, a growing aquaculture industry,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The fear across the bay

It’s been an old-fashioned winter so far. Outside it’s all snow, cold. My phone is full of videos from Minneapolis that look like they could just as well be from Portland. Snowbanks line the roads, plumes of breath blend with clouds of tear gas. The zipper on my winter coat… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The power of a room of one’s own

When my parents purchased the home that I grew up in nearly 60 years ago, the $12,000 price tag was almost out of their reach. They managed to pull together a down payment, and that home has remained our family’s center of gravity for six decades. As homes go, ours was small. Two bedrooms, one bath, a tiny kitchen and living room, and an unfinished basement… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

All that is old is new again

Writing for the New York Times, Kim Severson annually digs deeply into food trend predictions and comes up with what we ought to expect to see in the coming year. For islanders, the good news seems to be that with a little tweaking, we can participate this year. Or, actually,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

My space to be creative

I look around as I sit at a freshly decluttered desk in my studio to write for the first time in 2026. This 8-foot by 10-foot room has been the work area for countless projects and creations for over 40 years. I used to design and make jewelry here until… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winter is time for ‘vertical swimming’

My love of swimming is well documented. But while I don't turn my nose up at a cold dip, the salty miles I log in the Millstream and Pulpit Harbor every summer aren't possible from October to May on North Haven. As an alternative, when we get any amount of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Shrimp fishery moratorium continues

It's hard to manage a fishery with little data. It's hard to collect data with few people. I attended the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission shrimp fishery meeting in Portland in December. Its goal was to determine the fate of the northern shrimp fishery, and besides the depressing news of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine’s housing crossroads

Maine entered the 2025 legislative session with housing at the top of its policy agenda. For years, Mainers have grappled with unaffordable rents, scarce housing availability for working families, and regulatory barriers that help keep supply low—all of which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, growing numbers of seasonal homes, and development challenges. This past year, the… SEE MORE

The Public's Policy

Working Waterfront

Looking for hope in a stormy season

In hindsight, I wonder if the name I chose for this column was too wishful. I took the phrase “Sweetest in the Gale” from Emily Dickinson’s poem, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” in which a bird stands for hope in dark times. “And sweetest - in the Gale -… SEE MORE