Category: Marine

Maine's congressional delegation (from left, Jared Golden, Chellie Pingee, and from right, Angus King and Susan Collins, flank Gov. Janet Mills.

Working Waterfront

Collins secures funding for lobster industry

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has secured $15 million in the draft fiscal year 2022 commerce, justice, and science appropriations bill to support Maine’s lobster industry. The bill must still be voted upon by the full Senate and House. Collins released the following… SEE MORE
Fishermen pull their traps for the season off South Portland in October. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Casco Bay: Warmer, saltier

Casco Bay is talking to us, but do we know what message it is sending? Last month, Friends of Casco Bay scientist Mike Doan and Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca gave some answers to that question in a remote presentation to about 100 participants concerned about the health of the vast… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A different kind of hauling

PHOTOS BY BILL SAXTON/KELLI PARK For recreational boaters, this is a sad time of year, when the decision is made to have the boat hauled from the harbor by a boatyard to be stored somewhere on dry land. For fishermen, it’s a little different—many are welcoming the chance to sleep… SEE MORE
Lobster Fishermen, Marsden Hartley

Working Waterfront

Marsden Hartley’s Corea and ‘Lobster Fishermen’

This column marks the launch of an occasional feature by renowned art writer Carl Little on images of Maine’s working waterfront. When Marsden Hartley returned to his native state in 1937, he was determined to become “the painter from Maine.” Born in Lewiston in 1877, he had spent time in… SEE MORE
The Brooks family; from left: Mark, Sally, Julie, and Stephen. FILE PHOTO: JULIA NEMY

Working Waterfront

Worker shortage impacting lobster fishery

You see the signs everywhere: “Help Wanted” or “Hiring Now.” Businesses in every sector of Maine’s economy have found it difficult to hire the number and type of workers they need. The problem has become acute in the businesses that supply lobstermen with their traps and other equipment. “Sadly, we’ve… SEE MORE
Stonington harbor. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Lobstermen’s Association sues over whale rules

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association filed a lawsuit in early September against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Secretary of Commerce in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the federal government’s ten‐year whale protection plan. The suit claims the plan will all but eliminate the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Maine coast, 50 years ago

Thanks to the Farnsworth Art Museum for use of these photos shot by George Tice in several Maine coastal towns in 1971.     [caption id="attachment_28820" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Bertram Peabody and son clam digging on Beals Island, 1971.[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_28821" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Painted lobster buoys, Stonington, 1971.[/caption]   [caption… SEE MORE
Kathy Walsh at work on her boat. PHOTO: COURTESY KATHY WALSH

Working Waterfront

Boatbuilder develops work strategies while navigating ALS

Boatbuilder Kathy Walsh, who was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis last spring, has developed strategies to continue working despite increasing weakness in her upper body. Walsh also wonders if toxins found in work-related materials could be the cause of, or a contributor to the disease.… SEE MORE