Category: Marine

Working Waterfront

Shellfish harvesting can return to Boston Harbor

Three towns perched on the shore of Boston Harbor can now devise rules for shellfish harvesting, something no municipality near the harbor has been able to do for more than a century. The Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries announced at the beginning of this year that water quality in certain parts of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Underwater AI data center proposed off Eastport

A new tidal power project is being proposed off Eastport, but whether the developer has the technical expertise and financial backing to proceed with the proposal is not clear. Along with planning to provide electricity to local communities, the company, DeepGreen Western Passage SPV LLC, is seeking to power underwater… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Decline seen in young lobster

The good news is that Maine has more varied and sophisticated ways to measure the lobster population than ever before. The bad news is that data shows declines in larval, juvenile, young of the year, and sublegal populations, perhaps signaling a drop in landings in coming years. Nine scientists from… SEE MORE

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