Working Waterfront

Twice to the island for Jon Bolduc

Islesboro has a personal and professional hold on Jon Bolduc, and for good reason, as he explains. Bolduc, 31, moved with his family to the Penobscot Bay island when he was a child. “My mom and dad were both teachers,” he explains. “They got positions the same year,” at the… SEE MORE

David Lunt in his later years. PHOTO: NICOLE WOLF

Working Waterfront

Remembering David Lunt, my father

He was blessed with a sharp mind and operated on instinct (he was not fond of “process”) to help pull his hometown into a more modern world. And he worked tirelessly with state agencies and organizations, such as Island Institute, to push new ideas in a constant struggle to keep it alive. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Institute staff reflect on national waterfront conference

The Institute crew presented on efforts like marine decarbonization, storm preparedness, and greenhouse gas assessments in the seafood industry, all while learning fresh ways to drive progress and continue supporting Maine’s working waterfronts. SEE MORE

Residents of Penobscot vote to enact an ordinance regulating aquaculture operations at a meeting last year.

Working Waterfront

Another view on aquaculture conflicts

The opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Island Institute, the publisher of The Working Waterfront Yes, please, let’s have an honest conversation about aquaculture (as the op-ed by Benjamin Ford of the law firm Archipelago argued in the April/May issue of The Working Waterfront). Protect Maine’s Fishing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

LD 1 would help coastal towns prepare

To support this effort and align it with the state’s climate initiatives, Island Institute leveraged the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation, and the Future’s Community Resilience Partnership (CRP) opportunity, which provides individualized vulnerability assessments for community projects. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A YEAR LATER—Waterfront business owners reflect on storms

“That afternoon, all the fishermen showed up to help,” Chipman recalled, a theme among the panelists, crediting the larger community with assisting in stabilizing the properties. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Listening for leadership

I don’t see many leaders. I see individuals running organizations and businesses, chairing committees and boards of directors, but just because they sit in the chair at the head of the table doesn’t make them leaders. Not only do we need leaders, but we need compassionate leaders who can hold… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Hopeful persistence

It is important every now and again for an organization to test its values. The process reinvigorates the idea that how an organization works is as important as what it does. It engages new team members in the fundamentals of the mission. It reminds us that values are more than… SEE MORE

An aerial view of Camden’s waterfront shows Montgomery Dam. PHOTO: TODD ANDERSON

Working Waterfront

Camden’s dam problem

In June, voters in the town of Camden will decide the fate of the iconic Montgomery Dam, located in the coastal community’s bustling downtown just above where the Megunticook River empties into Camden Harbor. Camden citizens will weigh the environmental, economic, flood risk, historic preservation, and aesthetic pros and cons… SEE MORE

Minna Page, a cannery worker, inside Stinson's Cannery in Belfast in 1990. PHOTO: PEGGY MCKENNA COLLECTION/PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

When the Maine coast was ‘Sardineland’

In the mid-20th century, there were some 75 sardine canneries operating along the Maine coast, so calling the region “sardine land” wouldn’t be hyperbole. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport is diving into the history of that once robust sector of the marine economy in its spring exhibit, “Sardineland: Boom,… SEE MORE