Things are changing on Hurricane Island. The Hurricane Island Foundation was formed in 2008 and recently signed a 40-year lease with the owner of the island, who wishes to remain anonymous. The foundation will hire an island manager for this summer and begin work repairing some buildings. The Hurricane Island Foundation (HIF) is not part
We Were an Island: The Maine Life of Art and Nan Kellam
University Press of New England, 2010 190 pages, $27.95 Their own kingdom “[A] castle that was also a kingdom, surrounded by a moat”–that was the dream of a mid-western couple transplanted to the West Coast. Engineering work at Lockheed during World War II had taken Art Kellam and his wife Nan to California, and the
Summer of tears: A fisherman’s reaction to the Gulf oil spill
The boat ride out, from Lafitte, Louisiana on Sunday, May 23 2010 to our fishing grounds was not unlike any other I have taken in my life as a commercial fisherman from this area. I have made the trip thousands of times in my 35-plus years shrimping and crabbing. A warm breeze in my face,
Aircraft carrier would turn waterfront into war museum
In writing a letter to you about my idea of putting wind turbines on the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, I recently discovered that Portland is in competition with Rhode Island in trying to have the carrier. A funding drive in Rhode Island is starting up in May to finance the move of the
Land trust focuses on water quality
The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust is heading in an unusual direction. This year, the staff has created a new focus for the organization by choosing water quality as the theme for the year’s activities. The group was inspired to take on the study of water quality in the estuary, and therefore, of the entire Kennebec
Headed East: Roger F. Duncan 1917-2010
Guidebook writers have something in common with composers of music: their work, if it’s good enough, is destined to be heard aloud. Roger F. Duncan, who died May 15, will forever be identified with The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast-and I suspect that generations of cruising sailors will recall hearing Roger’s words read
What is a sector?
The new fisheries-management system for New England officially began May 1. Roughly 800 of the eligible vessels, representing about 98 percent of the groundfish landings in recent years, have joined one of 19 sectors. Fishermen who have not opted into a sector will continue to fish under the days-at-sea effort-control management system. A sector is
We are all in this together
Fishermen are no longer able to catch more fish to make more money. The only way for them to earn more, is for them to be paid more for their fish. New England’s groundfishermen are now fishing under the most sustainable management system yet devised. While this is a step forward in the effort to
Long View: What works?
Discussions with leaders in our state or nation’s capitals almost always revolve around developing policies that will shape our future. I guess that’s why we call the people we meet in our capitals “policy makers.” In contrast, discussions in Maine’s island communities almost always revolve around how to test a new idea or a new
Groundfishing under a new management system
Groundfishermen in Maine are fishing under a new management system, and no one is sure how the fish stocks, or the fishermen, are going to react. Under the new system, called “sectors” (see sidebar “What is a sector?”), fishermen can choose to opt into a sector with other like-minded fishermen in order to work together