Working Waterfront

Deer Isle native finds career in young adult, children’s literature

Anica Mrose Rissi is an accidental writer. Growing up on Deer Isle, she moved to the bigger world while attending Yale University in New Haven, Conn., then moved on to New York City, where she had vague thoughts of finding a job in philanthropy. Instead, she landed a job—by accident—as… SEE MORE

Randy Cushman explains the workings of his modified net.

Working Waterfront

Randy Cushman’s balancing act… with a net

Long-time Port Clyde fisherman Randy Cushman is getting good results with his experiments to reduce flounder bycatch by increasing the mesh size of his net. It’s a bit of a balancing act. He’s aiming to find the right mesh size that will decrease bycatch of juveniles but still retain marketable… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fall’s harvest on the islands is self-serve

Two of the things I really appreciate about the island this year are the plentitude of apples everywhere and the fact that my own garden still has a few things to offer. My cherry tomatoes are ripening on cue and my larger tomato plants still show some promise. There are plenty… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Monhegan’s music man brings live performance, film, art shows

Two worlds loom large in Dylan Metrano’s life—music and Monhegan Island. A native of Newburyport, Mass., Metrano, 42, has been visiting Monhegan every summer since he was 7 years old. Twenty years ago, he began working summers at the Monhegan House, then, in 2007, began working summers at the Island… SEE MORE

Will Calkins and Abby Proctor at King Tide Farm

Working Waterfront

King Tide Farm takes root on Vinalhaven

Abby Proctor greets her customers at the Vinalhaven flea market with a bright smile and a friendly demeanor. She is soft-spoken and easy-going as she makes change and describes her freshly made pesto. For now, Proctor, 25, is the reluctant face of King Tide Farm. "It's very intimidating to be… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making friends in the finite space of an island

The end of August this year marked my husband Bill’s and my 12th full year on North Haven island, and rolled over into the start of our 13th. As far as I know, we were the only new arrivals to the year-round community at that time. There was a lot… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Small accomplishments propel second year

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. As I write this, I’m sitting on some rocks at the Basin, the tidal pond on Vinalhaven Island.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

To know, but not possess an island

Where Edges Don’t Hold: A Small Island Miscellany By Christina Marsden Gillis; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2017 In her introduction to this collection, Christina Gillis notes that in organizing Where Edges Don’t Hold: A Small Island Miscellany, she had in mind readers who identify “with the emerging field of Island… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Readers weigh-in on affordable housing

We recently sought reader thoughts on affordable housing, asking on The Working Waterfront’s Facebook page: Has your town already been priced out of the starter house market? If prices are high, what effects are you noticing? Are there too many seasonal homes? What might the state do to create more… SEE MORE

Conference attendees at Whaleback Shell Midden Historic Site in Damariscotta listen to Arthur Spiess

Working Waterfront

Ancient shell middens speak of climate and culture

It’s not often that ordinary folks get to help protect the state’s ancient cultural history, but a group of academics, archaeologists, and scientists is spearheading a citizen scientist initiative to do just that. These newly minted citizen scientists will monitor some of the state’s 2,000 or so known prehistoric shell… SEE MORE