Between January 2000 and January 2001, four commercial fishing vessels from Maine sank and nine fishermen lost their lives at sea – unusually high numbers. After each incident involving vessels sinking and/or loss of life at sea, the U.S. Coast Guard analyzes the probable causes and contributing factors, and publishes a report of the investigation
Canada Gets Tough on Foreign Fleets
By the end of May the Canadian federal government will implement expanded patrols of the Grand Banks. The patrols will be supported by serious funding The patrols of the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks will be carried out jointly by the Canadian Coast Guard and Navy. In March, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister
Newfoundland Company Buys Polar Foods
Polar Foods, a Prince Edward Island processing company, has been purchased by Ocean Choice of Newfoundland. Polar had been placed in receivership after going bankrupt in February. On the positive side, the deal means that lobster will be processed this spring, and Ocean Choice has agreed to process all the lobster it purchases in the
PEI Fishermen Don’t Like Government’s Snow Crab Allotment
Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Minister Geoff Regan has announced the 2004 snow crab allocations for Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick fishermen – and made nobody happy. On April 1, Regan set the quota allotted to inshore P.E.I. fishermen 496 tons, up from 185 tons in 2003. Regan explained that the move to increase the
Tax Cap
The tax cap that’s headed for a referendum ballot later this year would push homeowners’ valuations back to 1996 and cap property taxes at one percent of those values. Because Maine relies so heavily on property taxes, a cap would necessitate one of two things: drastic cuts in services at the state and local level,
Destroying to Save?
The administration of Washington County Community College announced recently it was suspending its Eastport boatbuilding program. The suspension, said the college president, “is a positive step that will reinvigorate the program.” Reinvigorating it would certainly be a good idea. Whether shutting down the program will accomplish that goal is unclear. College officials cited declining enrollment
A Look Back at 20 Years of Island Journal
This summer the Island Institute will publish Holding Ground: The Best of Island Journal, 1984-2004. A look back at the Island Institute’s signature publication, this 270-page book will feature memorable articles, artwork and photography from the 20 volumes of Island Journal. Editors are Philip Conkling and David Platt; the designer is Paige Parker. Peter Ralston,
The Programs Perspective
A central part of the Island Institute’s mission since its inception twenty years ago has been to help improve communication and information sharing among members of island and coastal communities, researchers and policy makers. Towards this end, one of the Institute’s most important functions is also, in many ways, the most basic: we convene and
The Long View: Triumph of the Commons
Two new books about Maine lobsters about to be released by major New York publishers (and reviewed elsewhere in this issue), remind us of a number of important things about ourselves. First, the Maine lobster is a national icon – right up there with L.L. Bean – and unfortunately way ahead of the Maine potato.
I Have Mail
I Live, That I May Serve A Madame Umynmee Ofabozo, describing herself as the wife of the deposed leader of Equatorial Guinea, has contacted me personally asking if I would help facilitate the removal of $760,000,000 from her Swiss bank account to the United States. She has asked, with disquieting humility, if she might use