Category: Marine

Working Waterfront

Lobster landings fell last year as fishermen went out less

According to preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the state’s commercial seafood harvesters earned $619 million in 2025, which was the 14th consecutive year commercial fishery earnings surpassed $500 million. “Once again, Maine fishermen and sea farmers in 2025 delivered premium products sought by consumers around the… SEE MORE
Fishermen return to the dock in Belfast after catching menhaden, also known as pogies. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Fishermen divided over proposed menhaden changes

Like the schools of menhaden that roil the summer waters off the coast of Maine, a proposed law that would open that lucrative fishery to more participants has been raising turmoil among fishermen, legislators, and state regulators. Menhaden has become a significant part of the bait supply for Maine’s lobster… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The final years before an island got its bridge

Sargentville’s wharf was bustling on a summer day around 1934 when Evie Kimball (Barbour) made a series of photographs using her 5-by-7-inch view camera. She had repeatedly photographed the area over several decades, always hunting for new “views” for her real-photo postcards. Of the hundreds of postcards she made around… SEE MORE
Fathoming

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

A half-century of fishing news comes to an end

A longer version of this piece appeared in the last issue of Commercial Fisheries News, which ceased publication at the end of 2025. Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast’s commercial fishing trade newspaper, published its last issue in December 2025. CFN was founded in 1973 in Stonington, Maine, as an idea… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Here’s how to save working waterfront

Many people and organizations in Maine, including the publishers of this paper, have rightfully sounded the alarm about the loss of working waterfront along the coast. What is obvious is that Maine’s coast has become a very desirable place to live, and many fishing families have been displaced from shorefront… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Leaning into fishing

For years, teachers and guidance counselors at the Charles M. Sumner Learning Campus in Sullivan worked diligently to give students who fish a broader outlook on possible occupations other than a life on the sea. But Whytne Crabtree, a career education teacher, decided to take a different tack. Crabtree oversees… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Locals worry as Downeast marine facility goes up for sale

Much like ancient Gaul, Winter Harbor on the Downeast coast is divided into three parts, at least when approached from the water. To the west lies Grindstone Neck, the site of many large, elegant summer homes and the Winter Harbor Yacht Club, which offers a hospitable welcome to visiting yachtsmen.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

From the ashes, a call to action

In my last “From the Helm” column, I wrote about the importance of Maine’s working waterfront—the people, the structures, the boats, and the businesses that sustain Maine’s marine economy. I asked you to imagine what it would look like if that critical connection between land and sea were to disappear.… SEE MORE