Long Island’s 12th annual Town Meeting, held on Saturday, May 14, was very well attended. Over 100 community members and many guests squeezed into the VFW hall for the four-hour meeting, which was led by moderator Mark Greene. After a lengthy discussion on the final two articles, addressing the ownership of the land containing oil
Mountain Man A Deer Isle artist-fisherman lives life to the full
“To me, making art is the hardest kind of work,” said Deer Isle artist Larry Moffet, and that’s saying something because the 56-year-old Moffet earns his living as a lobsterman and boatbuilder. He works in oils, watercolors, pastels, woodcuts, cut paper and silver, has taught paper-cutting and has exhibited his work at Deer Isle’s Turtle
Store for All Seasons – Among other things, the Winter Harbor 5
“I can buy in onesies: I can order one item,” declared owner Peter Drinkwater of the merchandise he sells at the Winter Harbor 5 & 10. It’s not that he doesn’t carry a whole lot, it’s that he doesn’t have room to stock everything his customers want. And those customers range from local fishermen and
“Sustainability” – It’s a term we hear everywhere, but defining it can be tricky
“Sustainability” is a term we hear constantly in modern parlance, including in recent reporting of the sustainable seafood trend highlighted at this year’s International Boston Seafood Show (WWF April 2005). “Sustainability” enjoys such broad application that defining it is a challenge. It is most commonly used in reference to natural resources from farming to forestry
“They’re impossible to avoid” – Council allows herring vessels to take some haddock
Maine ground fishermen are less than thrilled with a government proposal to allow herring vessels to land 1,000 pounds of juvenile haddock per trip, but regulators say the by catch allowance is the only way to allow the herring fleet to go fishing this season. “Of course the groundfish people are not happy that herring
The CAT casts its eye on Portland
In the world of leisure travel, as minutes become precious and hours essential, a high-speed ferry service between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia seems to be an imminent necessity to 21st century vacationers. With cautious optimism, Bay Ferries plans to dip into this potentially lucrative market. While their CAT is an amazing aluminum catamaran
Small student-teacher ratio has appeal, but poses problems for an island school
Mary Tetreault likes working at the Matinicus school, where the teacher-student ratio is one to three and she can walk home for lunch. It can be a dream job to prepare lessons for just three young learners, but rock-bottom enrollment spells an uncertain future for the little school. Next fall, two of the three students
Rough seas, nesting birds thwart Matinicus Rock’s latest ramp project
Matinicus Rock, remote light and haven to protected puffins and other seabirds, is notorious for high seas and inaccessibility. So it’s no surprise that efforts to rebuild a boat ramp at the former U.S. Coast Guard station there have been thwarted by weather. For years the wooden ways on barren Matinicus Rock have been battered
Getting an edge – Young lobstermen compete, strive and thrive in the fishery
The 2004 graduates of the Marine Technology program at Deer Isle-Stonington High School have been fishing full time for the past season, and the students from the class that will graduate this month fished all last summer and weekends till the end of the season. They are now putting their traps overboard for the 2005
Legislators brief Maine Islands Coalition
The Maine Islands Coalition met May 6 in Rockland with 30 people in attendance. Representatives from Cliff, Monhegan, Cranberry Isles, Town of Long Island, Islesboro, North Haven, Swan’s, Matinicus, Frenchboro, Peaks, Vinalhaven, Little Diamond and Great Diamond attended. State Sens. Dennis Damon and Ethan Strimling also took part in the meeting. The Coalition was formed