Working Waterfront

A new board game simulates lobstering in Penobscot Bay

Lobster fishing is a blend of strategy, hard work, and good fortune. The right gear, the right timing, and the right places to set strings of traps can be no match for the weather, or the whims of the market, but fisherfolk persevere, and often end a season in the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Big Jim,’ an iconic Maine sign, finds temporary new home

Big Jim isn’t what he once was. At least for now. The iconic 40-foot tall sign that once welcomed visitors to Maine in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and later towered over the Stinson Canning plant in Prospect Harbor, is lying in a paint shed at Belmont Boatworks this… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Matinicus refreshes its power generation

Since summer 2025, Matinicus Island’s municipally owned electric utility has powered homes and businesses using a 160kW solar array, two new Perkins diesel generators, and a “hybrid supercapacitor” battery energy storage system. Matinicus, easily 20 miles offshore from Rockland, first offered grid-style electricity to homeowners in the mid-1960s, when our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cushing nears purchase of publicly accessible waterfront

Cushing is on track to buy one and a half acres along Pleasant Point Gut where local officials eventually hope to build a public boat ramp. Residents approved the purchase in March by a 211-81 vote, providing a strong mandate to continue with the project. If successful, it would create… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A sea captain gets her due

Mary Ann Brown Patten’s name didn’t make it into the title of Tilar Mazzeo’s book about her, The Sea Captain’s Wife, which I find a bit ironic given one of the author’s goals is to educate readers about the impressive achievements of a now-forgotten female sea captain. But also, perhaps… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An old predator poses new threat to lobster

This article first appeared in UMaine News. It has been edited and condensed. Michelle Staudinger, associate professor of fisheries science, is leading a new study at the University of Maine to find out whether lobsters are being consumed by a long-known fish predator, cunner, in a new way. These small,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

UMaine gets new marine research vessel

A new teaching and research vessel at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center is expanding student access to the largest ecosystem on Earth: the open ocean. The new 45-foot vessel is the biggest in the center’s fleet. Previously used as a commercial tuna fishing platform, it will support student… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine lobster scientist Bob Steneck elected to National Academy

In one of the highest honors in American science, the National Academy of Sciences has elected Robert S. Steneck, a longtime University of Maine marine ecologist whose work has reshaped understanding of coastal ecosystems. The academy announced on April 28 the election of 120 members and 25 international members, bringing its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Comparing Maine and Mexico fishing communities

This piece first appeared in UMaine News. More than 70 percent of Maine’s fishing value comes from American lobster. The fishery has delivered prosperity for decades, but it also leaves coastal communities exposed if lobster populations falter, ocean conditions shift, or markets change. That pattern is not unique to… SEE MORE

Marine

Working Waterfront

NASA data helps Maine oyster farmers

When oyster farmer Luke Saindon went looking for a place to grow shellfish in Maine, he knew that picking the wrong waters could sink the farm before it began. So Saindon did something oyster farmers couldn’t have done a generation ago: He used NASA satellite data to view the coastline… SEE MORE

Marine