From the Town Landing: A close call for the Gulf of Maine

The enormous impact of the spill from this one well, one of 4,000 in the Gulf of Mexico, makes clear the threat that our oil addiction poses to fishermen and others who depend on healthy marine ecosystems to make their living.

Where are the herring?

Landings of herring from inshore waters known as Area 1A are dramatically less than in years past, causing scientists, seine fishermen and lobstermen to shake their heads in confusion.

A tour behind the shipyard gates

You seldom see anything made on such a large and systemized scale, with so much specialization and coordination, as the ship-building operation at Bath Iron Works. And you can't help but marvel at how these imposing ships get from plans to production to the open ocean, just a few miles down the deep Kennebec.

Changing Times

Portland’s pier owners, fishermen and public officials struggle with waterfront zoning

Like most changes on Portland's historic waterfront, this change won't happen without a fight--or at least protracted negotiations and a certain amount of politics. The change, if it happens, would be a liberalization of the working-waterfront zoning that has controlled the ways the piers along Commercial Street are used.

Long View: The end of the beginning

Fathoming: Oil in the Gulf of Mexico: Not as far away as you think

Maine to solicit bids for offshore energy development

From the Town Landing: Revise the quotas, not the rules