Along the Maine coast, March madness for many people has more to do with fishing and boatbuilding than with who is playing whom in NCAA basketball. Each March, two large and increasingly significant events bring together large cross sections of Maine’s working waterfronts –the Fisherman’s Forum in Rockport and the Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland.
Lobster fishermen face new rope rules
Preliminary landings totals indicate last year’s Maine lobster landings were down by more than six million pounds. The good news is the overall price for the state’s most valuable seafood also reached an all-time high. Lower landings may not cause all Maine lobstermen to worry, but there are other areas of concern. One is a
Lobster landings are down, but value is up
Preliminary information for 2005 Maine lobster landings show a total of 63 million pounds, down from 2004 when landings totaled 70.8 million pounds. The overall value set a record, however, reaching $289.7 million so far, up from the previous year’s $285 million, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Prices throughout the year were
Monkfish could offer fishermen market stability
I don’t think I’ll get many angry letters if I describe the monkfish as one of the homeliest creatures in the northwest Atlantic, if not the homeliest. Also known as goosefish, the monkfish is a member of the anglerfish family Lophiidae, and is distinguished by a fleshy appendage, known as the illicium, that protrudes from
Chebeague secession moves ahead
Chebeague Island is one step closer to independence. On March 8, the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government voted unanimously that the bill granting Chebeague Island independence should be approved by the full Legislature. All 12 members present voted that the bill should pass and the one absent member, Sen. Margaret Rotundo (D-Androscoggin),
Hard Work
It has been only a year since the directors of School Administrative District 51 proposed that fourth and fifth graders be removed from Chebeague’s school and sent to the mainland. Their obvious tone-deafness to island concerns produced results, and fast: within weeks, Chebeague’s secession movement organized itself and went to work. That the movement is
Retreat…and Go Forward! Middle Schoolers’ Retreat teaches lessons in Bar Harbor
In January, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from Monhegan, Isle au Haut, Islesford and Matinicus gathered in Bar Harbor for the 2nd annual Island Middle-Schoolers’ Retreat. (Frenchboro would also have participated, but that island has no middle-school students this year.) The 15 students who gathered at the Atlantic Oakes were hardly in for a weekend of
Cranberry Report: Cold Swimming, Contested Election
Between mid-February and mid-March, residents of the Cranberry Isles experienced some very warm days among the usual wintry ones. When air temperatures hit the high 40s on Feb. 16, nine people decided it was a good day for their February “dip of the month.” Jane Grover, Lindsey Eysnogle, Cindy Thomas, Gretchen Van Dusen, Richard Ramsey,
North Haven approves paving, halts subdivisions
An unseasonably warm day didn’t keep North Haven residents from coming out for the annual town meeting on March 11. Over 80 people attended the meeting at the town’s Community Building. It was a true community affair with North Haven Community School seniors selling homemade soups and desserts at lunchtime. Voters approved a $1,168,820 budget,
North Haven graduates hold forum
North Haven Arts and Enrichment hosted the 7th annual graduate forum this year on Jan. 4 at Waterman’s Community Center. High school students and teachers attended the hour and a half long meeting run by recent graduates of North Haven Community School (NHCS). Jacqueline Curtis (`03) and Mina Bartovics (`03). Laura Barrett(`04), Jamie Lane (`05),