Articles
Lessons learned from offshore wind
Block Island, 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, has a year-round population of about 950. Residents pay up to 60 cents per kilowatt hour for their electricity, which is generated on the island with diesel generators. Summer brings an influx of visitors and vacationers—and their money— with as many as 15,000 people on
New right whale rules put lobster gear at risk
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released in June new regulations designed to protect whales from being entangled in fishing gear by reducing the number of lobster buoys lines (vertical lines) in the water. The rules start to recognize the diversity of the fishery, but they also add to existing regulations, including a requirement
Buffeted by threats on all sides, Apalachicola fights to save its oyster industry
I never thought I would see it like this. Apalachicola, a city on a triangle-shaped point that juts out from Florida’s panhandle into the Gulf of Mexico, is known for oysters and seafood. If it weren’t the primary fishing community on the state’s last true working bay, Apalachicola would be another small town, forgotten along
A Chat With Alaskan Fisherman, Corey Arnold
Alaskan commercial fisherman and photographer Corey Arnold traveled to Maine to share some of his favorite stories and photographs of fishermen and their catch in the presentation Fish-Work at the Strand Theatre on Aug. 9. On the trip to Rockland, he talked with the Island Institute’s Marine Programs director, Nick Battista, about salmon fishing in
Acadian Redfish and Squid Ink
At the door to the Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth, N.H., we were welcomed by a smiling hostess who directed us to sit at one of the large tables set up for the evening. We were there to eat five delicious courses of fresh seafood and talk about Community Supported Fisheries (CSF) as part of
The Value of Working Waterfronts
Working waterfronts provide the critical infrastructure that supports our rural, natural resource-dependent, economic activities, much like the saw mills in western Maine that support the timber industry or the grain elevators in the Midwest that support family farms. Maine fishermen know that losing access to the water means losing everything, from their income to their
The 37th Annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum
The first weekend in March will find Rockland’s Samoset Resort abuzz with fishermen from all along the coast coming together for the 37th Maine Fishermen’s Forum. Forum organizers expect this year’s event to be a busy one with people coming to discuss the latest developments in the lobster, shrimp and groundfish industries, offshore wind, and
Saving Fuel Doesn’t Have to be a Drag
Serendipity is a common theme in science. Accidents and mistakes lead to fortuitous discovery; questions yield unexpected answers. For Steve Eayrs, a fish behavior and gear technology researcher at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, surprise came about when a study about fishing gear selectivity found new ways for fishermen to save fuel and money,