Ten years ago this month – in April 1983 -we published our first issue of Working Waterfront. Since then we’ve grown from a quarterly to a monthly, from 16 to (sometimes) 32 pages, from a paper that ended up in Post Office recycling bins to one that’s read everywhere on the Maine coast. So if
Close to home: Two countries try community-based management
Community-based resource management, a simple-sounding concept, actually requires hard, frustrating effort say, those who try it. Despite the obstacles, a few organizations in New England and Atlantic Canada are slouching toward some measure of success. In recent years no resource issue has been more contentious in Atlantic Canada than the native vs. non-native fisheries problem.
Troubled paradise
Here’s a riddle. You live on a beautiful island and enjoy a rural setting, relatively little tourism, and low-impact ways to make a living. The most traditional jobs are related to the water (fishing) or the fields (raising livestock). Some get by providing services – food, transportation, entertainment – and some run guesthouses about nine
Small schools
Politicians and policy-makers, often far removed from the classroom, must take note of the benefits offered by small schools and the challenges small schools face. Federal and state mandates may bankrupt and destroy small schools, taking many small communities with them. In today’s economic climate, this message is especially relevant. A growing educational reform movement
Etnier named Deputy Commissioner of DMR
David Etnier of Harpswell was named Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). George Lapointe, DMR Commissioner, made the announcement on Feb. 28 at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockland. As DMR’s chief liaison to the Maine Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee, Etnier’s experience in Maine politics will serve him well. A Democrat, Etnier represented
Parallel 44 Despite criticism, Gulf of Maine Aquarium takes big step forward
The 35-year old campaign to build a marine research center on the Portland waterfront took another major step forward last month, but not everyone here is happy about it. The Gulf of Maine Aquarium secured $2.8 million in federal funds March 10, which will be put towards building a $12 million, 58,000 square foot research
Building things
Something’s right in East Boothbay, the little community on the banks of the Sheepscot River where shipbuilders survive and thrive. Year after year the welders, mechanics, riggers and joiners at two yards there turn out an impressive tugs, ferries and yachts – in an age when America’s small manufacturers struggle against foreign competition, an uninterested
Fencing off the ocean: Marine Protected Areas are a
The marine protected areas debate has matured to the point where everyone – government regulators, industry, scientists, environmentalists – acknowledges that marine protected areas (MPAs) are a concept that is here to stay. Depending on how you define them, despite pressure from environmentalists and the endorsement of two presidents, Clinton and now Bush, few marine
Hand-cranked entertainment
Jan. 1, 2000 – Temp. 40 at noontime. Wind NW light, bar. 29:90, rising slowly. Another new year has arrived. Jeri Spurling, our daughter-in-law, fetched us a jar of lobster stew and our friend and neighbor, Lillian Alley (an excellent cook) brought us some muffins and cups of custard. This year is starting out very
The Long View The Power of Faith
The morning ferry ride across Penobscot Bay to North Haven was clear but cold. Skim ice had formed overnight in the ferry pen on the island where the wake from the CAPTAIN NEIL BURGESS spilled out across solid water. Just a few weeks prior, several brave souls had walked across the Fox Island Thorofare to