Amid rising costs and depleted fish stocks, fishermen are dropping out, quitting their traditional work because it no longer pays to fish. Even as fish stocks begin to recover, independent fishermen are swamped by strict regulations and the high cost of doing business. Glen Libby, president of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative (MFC) in Port Clyde,
Clamming law change allows diggers, like Ken Bailey, to sell to restaurants
Ken Bailey’s Chevy 12-passenger van has no back seats. Two broken plastic sleds and a variety of junk rattle in the back as he bounces down the rutted path to the shore to pick up his clams. Cigarette butts overflow from the ashtray and soda bottles litter the passenger side. Sharp white lettering on the
Changing tides at Higgins Beach
When people in the Portland area tell veteran surfer Joe Conway that they’re interested in learning the sport, he says, “Oh yeah? Go to Higgins Beach.” Located in the town of Scarborough an easy 15 minutes south of Conway’s home in Portland, Higgins Beach stretches for seven tenths of a mile along Saco Bay. Conway
Mapmaker creates cookbook for home and away
If Jane Crosen had not spent 1975 through 1978 at the Scottish spiritual community Findhorn, she might not have become a mapmaker, editor, cook and cookbook author. Although as a child, she had imitated a grandmother cooking, making what her grandmother referred to as “Janie’s little messes,” Crosen discovered a love of baking while planning
Loan programs to help lobstermen are still available
When the price lobstermen were paid for their catch collapsed last October, officials from the state and local banks came up with a program to help fishermen restructure business loans. Despite fluctuations, that price has not recovered in the last 10 months, remaining below $2.50 a pound in many sections of the coast at the
New Brunswick sea lice pesticide treatment generates opposition
A plan to kill sea lice on caged salmon with a powerful pesticide that will subsequently be flushed into several bays in southwest New Brunswick is generating concern among fishermen and environmentalists. The New Brunswick Department of Agriculture and Aquaculture has secured an emergency authorization from Health Canada to conduct an experimental “bathing” of about
The Long View: Sprucing up the summer house
Until the recent economic seizure, most Americans would change houses and communities about as often as Hollywood stars change partners. When I got my first mortgage, the broker trying to interest me in the then new product of an adjustable rate mortgage, assured me that if I were like most homeowners, I’d only stay in
Stereotyping Matinicus
In most places in Maine, the actions of one individual would not become a symbol for an entire community. Unfortunately for Matinicus Island, that is precisely what has happened after island lobsterman Vance Bunker allegedly shot another island lobsterman, Chris Young, in the neck (see “Shooting shocks Matinicus community). State marine patrol officers said the
Diver Ed’ and ‘Captain Evil’ show visitors new worlds underwater
Carving a wake in the early morning calm of Frenchman’s Bay, the Starfish Enterprise steams out of Bar Harbor on its maiden voyage. Onboard, 11 passengers-parents and kids, all sporting duct-tape name tags-are sitting on long yellow benches. Ed Monat, 43, known to his passengers as Diver Ed, stands by the cabin. A few kids
Shooting shocks Matinicus community
Matinicus residents were left reeling in late July by a shooting that appeared to come close to killing an island lobsterman. They struggled to understand how two respected fishermen in this island community-where people all know one another and often are related-let a dispute escalate to a lethal level of violence On July 20, at