The fishing vessel Westward being towed off a ledge by Fuller Marine Services in Boothbay Harbor on Jan. 9.

Working Waterfront

The Wrack Line

Compiled by Tom Groening In baseball, the hitter gets three strikes. But when it comes to a 136-foot fishing boat wandering off it's mooring, there is no third strike. The Boothbay Register has been following the saga of the Westward, a steel-hulled, Dutch-built vessel that has been moored in Boothbay… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster marketing strategy centers on ‘new shell’

ROCKPORT — A firm hired by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to help grow markets for and increase the value of the state's signature seafood unveiled its strategy at the Maine Fishermen's Forum on Friday, March 6. Representatives from the firm Weber Shandwick said their vision aims to: Establish the… SEE MORE

Marine

Working Waterfront

Maine Maritime Academy hires alumnus to develop offshore industry program

Maine Maritime Academy has hired Michael Young of Ellsworth, a 1977 MMA graduate and previous instructor at the college to develop courses and programs to prepare students for jobs in offshore industries. The industries encompass oil and gas exploration, sub-sea engineering, dynamic positioning, floating production and storage offshore and supply vessel operations.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stranded by choice

When lobster scientist Diane Cowan heard that friends planned to airlift a box of goodies to her on Friendship Long Island, where she's been stranded since Jan. 30 due to extreme ice conditions, she broke into laughter. "I thought it was hilarious," said Cowan in a cellphone interview from the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fishing boat adrift in Boothbay Harbor

The Westward was towed off rocks on Jan. 9 and was headed to Portland, the Boothbay Register newspaper reported. The vessel has been a problem for the town, repeatedly breaking loose. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Record lobster landings in 2014: 123 million pounds, $456 million in value

For the third year in a row and only the third time ever, Maine lobster fishermen landed over 120 million pounds with a record overall value of $456,935,346, according to preliminary landings data reported by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. At $3.69 per pound, the 123,676,100 pounds landed represented… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Marketing lobster, restoring old ships and the winter of 1914

Waterfronts and those coastal towns that bustle with visitors in the summer tend to go quiet after the new year dawns. But that doesn't mean decisions affecting those waterfronts and towns aren't being made. In banks, in local and state government meeting rooms, and around conference tables at nonprofits, things… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Beacon and bell, significant to fishermen, to be restored

ISLE AU HAUT — When the town took over ownership of Isle au Haut Light in 1998, the selectmen made a pledge to residents never to use taxpayer money in its upkeep. The town formed a lighthouse committee that raised $62,000 for a restoration of the lighthouse tower that was… SEE MORE

A map showing the ports at which Eimskip calls.

Working Waterfront

Portland steamships link to lucrative European market

PORTLAND — One of the best business opportunities Maine has seen in years could begin with a single pallet-load of goods. That opportunity is now available through Eimskip, the Icelandic company that in the last two years has established a shipping facility at the west end of Commercial Street. Eimskip… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A dead whale washes ashore on an island: what to do?

Christmas Day in the Cranberry Isles arrived with winds high enough to cause ferry cancelations, though the air temperature was unseasonably mild. Fortunately for us, our family had arrived two days earlier. In a rare event that might occur once in five years, both of our sons came home to… SEE MORE