Tom Walsh starts work before he gets to work. Walsh works as a science writer at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and commutes 80 miles round-trip every day from his home in Gouldsboro. But like a growing number of Jackson Laboratory employees, he takes advantage of a bus service subsidized by the laboratory, leaving
Bahamian students get maritime training in PEI
Training Bahamian students at the Holland College Marine Training Center in Summerside, Prince Edward Island has fostered a partnership that will result in long-term benefits for the marine world. With the Bahamas having the third-largest ship registry in the world, getting PEI maritime trainers involved meant an island-to-island transition for students barley out of high
Arghh, matey it’s a new play set on Islesboro!
Maddie Dodge Field, Islesboro’s recreation park on Hewes Point, is the place to play pirates these days, or to play medieval knights, or to be a mountaineer, a fireman, or even pretend to be a lobsterman. An extensive new play set was erected this summer-a gift to the town from a family that has enjoyed
Algae now grown continuously using labor-saving process
Like most babies, tiny shellfish have voracious appetites that can keep those who are tending them on the run. If you put about 1,000 fingernail-size oysters into a container and then add about 6 billion cells of algae, the oysters will make short work of this nutritious food. “When you first add the algae,” says
Having the right stuff is not enough: Some thoughts on sustainability
What does sustainable island living mean? Is “sustainable” just a trendy buzz-word meaning “green?” Does “sustainability” really just refer to organic vegetables, bio-diesel and photovoltaics? I believe the answer is “no.” Don’t get me wrong-these particular subjects are worth discussing. At the moment, we are considering a wind-powered generator (although I’m not sure where we’ll
Haddock bycatch upsets groundfishermen
Lobstermen up and down the coast of Maine this month reported finding large amounts of haddock mixed in their herring bait. The haddock, caught as bycatch by industrial midwater trawl ships fishing for herring on Georges Bank, was the most seen mixed in with lobster bait to date this year. Maine Marine Patrol Officer Wesley
Parallel 44
Bleak future for The Cat Last month, The Cat made her last trips from Maine to Nova Scotia before packing it up for the season. There’s plenty of reason to fear the high-speed catamaran won’t be back next year. Our region’s long-haul ferries had a brutal season. Battered by sky-high fuel prices and a downturn in
Help us make our web site better
The process of redesigning the Working Waterfront web site has been underway for over a year. After unveiling a new design in June, we realized that there is more we can do. And we believe the best way to make further changes is to ask for feedback from our readers. We would like our site
A solar ferry?
It’s been a rough summer for passenger ferries. With skyrocketing diesel fuel prices, ferry companies had to raise rates to keep up with the increased costs. The Maine State Ferry system enacted a 12.5 percent rate hike June 1. Casco Bay Lines imposed a 50-cent-per-ticket fuel surcharge May 1, which has been challenged with a
Nobody’s pretty babies: family plant processes hagfish
“The first year, I wouldn’t even go in the building when they were processing,” said Drusilla Ray, of the product being processed, hagfish or Myxine glutinosa, better known as sea snakes or slime eels. She and her husband, Lawrence, own Cherry Point Products, Inc., in Millbridge, a company that fishes, processes, freezes, and sells sea