The Working Waterfront

03/03/2025

When discussions have been tense, the ability to keep talking later over a beer — or even later than that in a semi-crowded hotel room — sometimes helped fishermen and policy makers come to a compromise.

03/03/2025

Nice historical context about the Maine Fishermen's Forum.

When discussions have been tense, the ability to keep talking later over a beer — or even later than that in a semi-crowded hotel room — sometimes helped fishermen and policy makers come to a compromise.

02/27/2025

SOUTHWEST HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, GRAND MANAN, C.1891! Glass magic lantern slide in our collections that shows the Southwest Head Lighthouse high on the cliffs of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick. Slide dates to 1891 and was taken by R. Clinton Fuller of the Providence Camera Club of Providence, Rhode Island. If you look closely you can see in the upper right of the slide a two masted schooner under sail. The slide is one of a large number of slides that have come into our collections that were taken by Fuller of the eastern coast of Maine and neighboring Canada in the 1880s and 1890s.

02/26/2025

Tariff threats and political insults could put millions of dollars for Maine's tourism industry at risk.

02/20/2025

Several Frost and Lowell boats in this new anthology of New England harpoon swordfishing:

ON THE FISH:
The Harpoon Swordfishing Vessels of the New England Fleet, 1850-1975
by Russell E. Cleary

https://perpublisher.com/portfolio-item/on-the-fish/

02/20/2025

Is Maine keeping an open mind about its future marine economy? This op-ed argues that it is not.

In the last few years we have watched the promise of an innovative and dynamic seafood industry be picked apart by groups flying a false flag of environmentalism or “fishing heritage.”

02/19/2025

Michael Crowley's book uses decades of photos from National Fisherman to tell the history of fishing.

Crowley has chosen dozens and dozens of images from the museum’s collection and explains what is being depicted. In 2012, Diversified Communications, publisher of National Fisherman, donated its thousands of pre-digital (that is, film) photo archives to the museum.

02/19/2025

Patrick Keliher has overseen Maine's lucrative commercial fisheries since 2011.

02/18/2025

The exasperation of islanders is making waves in Augusta this year.

02/12/2025

When the sportfishing boat Hook, Line and Sinker broke free of its anchor and ran ashore, it became a public problem.

02/12/2025

The annual town meeting ain't what it used to be. Phil tells the tale.

Around 1960 I attended a Vinalhaven town meeting as part of a high school class activity dealing with civic government. One item on the town’s agenda concerned the repair of a small bridge connecting two substantial (everything’s relevant) island land masses that were a couple hundred feet apart...

02/11/2025

02/06/2025

Edward Hopper, The Bootleggers, 1925

02/05/2025

We love the coast of Maine best, but Dennis Bailey makes an enticing case for saying...

Bailey dives into the details on everything, from how to order a cup of coffee to banking, from how to buy food at a street market to why the roofs are all red.

02/03/2025

This is a fun story.

“For those struggling to decipher the imprinted text, I believe it reads as ‘Jones's — Ale & Porter Merchant – 20 & 22 Wilton Street – Liverpool – Established 1831.’”