Articles
Field Notes: Fishing for community
A fisherman and an economist walk into the bar, sit down and… actually it was a swanky meeting room, but at least you are still reading. I had the opportunity to observe a fisherman and an economist volley back and forth for a few rounds over the definition of the community this past week. The
Field Notes: Fishing for community
I had the opportunity to observe a fisherman and an economist volley back and forth for a few rounds over the definition of the community this past week. The fisherman was the only non-NGO, academic, or government person at the table. It was the end of the day and the fisherman was frustrated at questions
Field Notes: Privatizing the ocean’s fish
If you care about eating fresh fish or about having fishermen support your community economy, then please read this. One of the tragedies of fisheries management is that it is so complicated that it alienates the people who should be the most involved. In this column I attempt to explain one way of understanding what
Field Notes: One day at sea, sustainable shrimp fishing
It is four a.m. and very calm, no breeze. It feels unseasonably warm for a February night on the coast of Maine. I am walking out on the groundfish wharf in Port Clyde, a dim light from the fish house at the end of the wharf reveals only edges between land and water. Looking out
Field Notes: Time for a National Working Waterfront Coalition
Standing on the Bluffton Oyster Company wharf in South Carolina feels a world away from Maine, where snow is pummeling the coast. The live oaks up on the hillside behind the oyster company’s processing plant shine a lush green against a clear January sky. But the issues of retaining access to the water in the
Field Notes: Making the invisible visible
Sitting over a chart and a couple of beers at the Black Bull, a fisherman explains to me, “When I can line up Grey Rock and this point of land, I know I am at the western edge of my territory; from there it goes to this corner and runs out to the fifty- fathom
Field Notes
This is the second of two new, monthly columns now appearing in the Working Waterfront E-Weekly. Let us know what you think of these new features. “Field notes” is the term that many social scientists use to describe experiences and observations they have made while doing research, and to raise questions about what they are
Opinion: Maine’s Gold Coast and workforce housing
The need for workforce housing in Maine’s island and remote coastal communities has never been greater. This statement may seem startling, given the news that the housing market has stalled and prices are dropping. How in this market can we still have a need for workforce housing? Housing in Maine’s island and remote coastal communities
The Island Communities of the Eastern High Sierra
I recently spent a week’s vacation fishing, hunting and hiking at around 10,000 feet in the eastern High Sierra. Over beers, beef tongue stew and pecan punch (“punch” as in between-the-eyes, due to some seriously strong liquor in this popular drink of the region’s Basque sheep herders) I learned that Maine’s 15 remaining year round
Islanders share unique perspectives at PEI conference
The Institute of Island Studies at University of Prince Edward Island welcomed scholars from around the world to the third international conference of the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative. From June 28 through July 2, more than 40 presenters, two art exhibits, poetry readings, story telling, live music and the best of PEI cuisine delighted