Working Waterfront

Building a better lobster trap

It would be nice, Mark Brooks admits, if his family’s business could make just a few types of lobster traps. But with a laugh, he explains that lobstermen, legendary for their independent views on what works and what doesn’t, would not be the loyal customers they are if the company… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Demand for groundfish data continues to increase

The Sentinel Survey, now in its eighth year of research, collects data on the status of groundfish populations in Eastern Maine. The survey is conducted by Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, in collaboration with the University of Maine. Fishermen visit a total of 84 survey stations from June to October,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Museum hosts Maine Marine Fare, Sept. 9-10

Maine Marine Fare, a two-day symposium Sept. 9-10 at Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, focuses on what we take from and eat from the sea off the Maine coast, featuring Paul Greenberg as the keynote speaker at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Greenberg, a James Beard Award winner and author of Four Fish and American Catch,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The natural accuracy of Kristen Lindquist’s poetry

Tourists in the Known World: New and Selected Poems By Kristen Lindquist; Megunticook Press, Camden The ocean is unsayable, like a lot of the natural world. The night sky is unsayable. The energy in a seed. The sacrality of a maple leaf. The full moon. The mind of snow. The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bridging the communities within a community

A good friend from the Middle East moved to the Maine coast, to a small island community. I asked him what that was like, how difficult it was to find elements in his new community that reminded him of his birthplace. With a large smile and open arms, he said… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An expedition for a new pilot

By Eva Murray My flight instructor liked to talk. As I circled Belfast endless times with Alfred “Sandy” Reynolds, there was generally idle conversation in the airplane—sometimes, very idle. My lessons did not involve what you’d call a “sterile cockpit,” meaning strictly business, no needless chattering. Sandy wanted to make… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Whaddya have to do to get a popsicle out here?

It was an ordinary evening. Dinner was running a little late because my daughter Penrose and I had made chocolate chip cookies after her nap. As I grated zucchini from the late summer garden for fritters and mixed rice and beans, she played follow-the-leader with the dog, crawling behind him… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Chebeague Island revives fund to boost local nonprofits

As if on cue, a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter circled the island school, then hovered a hundred feet or so above the ballfield. Some of the 50 or so Chebeague islanders, sitting at picnic tables and milling about the wood-fired pizza oven, saluted the pilot with a wave, acknowledging the emergency… SEE MORE

A house on Hancock Point boarded up for winter.

Working Waterfront

Reader views on affordable housing

This month, we 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… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sharing sourdough a way to spread island flavor

I recently participated in the Island Institute’s summer lecture series in Rockland, in fine company with fellow columnists Sandra Oliver and Courtney Naliboff. We answered questions about what it was like to be women writers living on Maine islands. One question that is often asked is: “How do you come… SEE MORE