Working Waterfront

An island town looks in the mirror

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. The coast of Maine is an iconic place. You say “Maine” to someone out of state, and they picture harbor-front… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Farming scallops has big upside

These days, I’ve got scallops on the brain. It’s close to the end of the wild scallop fishery season, so I’m enjoying Maine day boat scallops while I can—and you should too. With the recent windy weather, I’ve lost some sleep thinking about how our 8,000-plus scallops, growing on our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A visit to Prock Marine with Lois Dodd, Jeff Epstein

The Rockland waterfront is a busy place, with all manner of marine activities happening all the time. Among its most venerable businesses is the Prock Marine Company on the northern end of the harbor. Founded in 1938 and incorporated in 1963, Prock Marine provides construction engineering services ranging from dredging… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A wonderful life begins close to home

Much of my political philosophy—maybe too much—springs from the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life. Policy questions are more nuanced and complex than talking heads on cable news suggest, and this film might be dismissed by some, as its villain says, as “sentimental hogwash” and overly simplistic. I see the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A reliable winter harvest fueled local economy

This time of year, Mainers look forward to the thaw and the coming of warmer weather. It is a time to look ahead to the opportunities that a Maine summer provides, a time when waterfronts are buzzing with seasonal industries and activities in comparison to the stalling effects of a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Music to be melancholy by

Whenever I can listen and do whatever else I’m doing simultaneously, I tune in to "At the Hop" on WERU-FM (89.9) on Saturday afternoons. Host Rick Foster’s regard for the music and for those of us he supposes are listening, his ironic consideration of the mood and the music, are… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An apology and an explanation

I wrote a column for this, the April issue of The Working Waterfront, a column about the absence of meaningful political discourse, particularly among elected representatives, the people we expect will indulge in such deliberation on our behalf. The column contained this: “I was expected to cultivate and sustain a… SEE MORE

The view from Little Deer Isle. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Finding Maine

Editor’s note: In our last edition, a letter writer suggested that islanders other than the four who write regular columns for us might contribute to our coverage of life in places surrounded by water. Challenge accepted here! I arrived here in Maine three years ago on May 1. More accurately,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine delegation can lead to climate safety

Both my wife and I grew up in Maine, but it wasn’t until we married that I adopted her family’s tradition of buying pounds of wholesale Maine shrimp and spending New Year’s Day (my mother-in-law’s birthday) shelling and freezing them for the coming months. It was an annual ceremony straight… SEE MORE

Landscape with Drying Sails, Stuart Davis

Working Waterfront

Jazz harbor: Stuart Davis in Gloucester

Located 25 or so miles northeast of Boston on Cape Ann, Gloucester is among the busiest fishing ports on the East Coast. An important shipbuilding center dating back to the early 1700s, over time the town became the hub for a fishing fleet that frequented the Grand Banks. Gloucester was… SEE MORE