Over 300 lobsters were cooked and served at the July 17 memorial lobster picnic at Islesford, in honor of Warren Fernald. For a number of years Warren had spoken of wanting to use the benefits from his Veteran’s life insurance policy to treat all of his island friends to a lobster. After his death on
A Bond Issue for Working Waterfronts
This summer the Maine Legislature approved a $12 million bond package for The Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program. Of that amount, $2 million is fixed specifically for keeping working waterfront lands in private ownership. “There was a strong bipartisan desire to do something in this area,” commented David Etnier, Maine’s Deputy Commissioner of Marine
Institute transfers six islands
The Island Institute, Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), and Chewonki Foundation signed purchase and sale agreements on Aug. 11 to transfer the ownership of six coastal Maine islands from the Institute to the two other organizations. The islands — Hungry and Black in Muscongus Bay, Campbell Island off Deer Isle, Russ Island off Stonington, Crow
Low-tech lobster conservation
“In the ocean, the survival rate of lobsters is less than one out of one thousand,” said David Mills, whose lobster hatchery is part of his Mount Desert Oceanarium. “We’ve had some years of 15 to 20 percent survival.” That’s an achievement, but the story of Mills’s success started with years of failure as he
Biologist joins Island Institute staff
REPORT:Atlantic snow crab fishery is in trouble
When the Atlantic Canada cod fishery collapsed, fishermen turned to snow crab to support themselves. Now, the lucrative snow crab fishery is in trouble, according to a report delivered in June to federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Geoff Regan by the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. In a letter to Regan, FRCC chair Jean Guy d’Entremont
Groups envision Sears Island’s future
Sears Island may have escaped a possible LNG port proposal last year, but all isn’t as quiet is it seems. The LNG interest was just the latest in a long history of grand ideas for the island, reinvigorating debate over how the town of Searsport could develop it for economic benefit while preserving its ecological
Perfect Job – Well, someone’s got to sail boats to faraway places…
The first time Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) graduate David Harrison went sailing, he hoisted the jib upside down, didn’t tie the jib sheets correctly and almost lost the boat. “That was my initiation,” he said. He hadn’t learned how to sail at the academy — he’d graduated in 1962 — but it looked interesting, so
Assessment Freeze
To the editor: Like most seacoast residents I am concerned about real estate tax increases caused by skyrocketing property values. Property tax increases are the principal reason long-term residents, particularly those working the waterfront and on fixed incomes, are being forced to sell their property. One answer is to freeze all property tax assessments on
The Long View – Working into the Community
The magic spell of summer is quickly broken. For me this happened the other morning driving down the main street of my mainland town when I unconsciously waved at the driver of an oncoming car — two fingers raised above the rim of the steering wheel, island fashion. It was only when the startled faces