http://www.workingwaterfront.com Sat, 17 May 2008 06:54:06 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/images/ww_banner_bg.png http://www.workingwaterfront.com http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Maine-made-computers-have-marine-applications/12349/  The NAVROC computer - an affordable, water-resistant computer designed and entirely assembled in Midcoast Maine - is practically a family affair. Designer and engineer Jacob Post, 32, and business owner Carolyn Philbrook of Rockbound Computers have known each other since he was a kid in Owls Head, one road over from her house and attending school with her sons. "Three years ago, we saw a lot of computers people had on lobster boats - they all rusted," said Post. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Maine-made-computers-have-marine-applications/12349/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Linda-Bean-expands-her-lobster-holdings/12356/ Linda L. Bean recently purchased the Carver's Harbor, Vinalhaven lobster wharf and buying station formerly owned by Shafmaster of New Hampshire, doing business as Little Bay Lobster Co. Bean, a member of the Freeport retailing family, also purchased the "floating" buying station owned by Peter Jones, who will run the combined facility. "I bought the real estate and I have arranged to buy his lobster supply," she said. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Linda-Bean-expands-her-lobster-holdings/12356/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Coastal-communities-get-creative-to-get-wireless/12343/ A war of words broke out this spring between two business partners, the Internet provider RedZone Wireless and the town of Mount Desert.  Last year, the town signed an agreement to pay $75,000 to RedZone Wireless in exchange for increased wireless coverage and a small percentage of the subsequent profits from new subscribers. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Craig Idlebrook) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Coastal-communities-get-creative-to-get-wireless/12343/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Schoodic-eco-resort-stirs-controversy/12340/ A plan to develop a resort community on the Schoodic Peninsula has met with skepticism among conservation groups and guarded enthusiasm among some Winter Harbor officials.     The proposal by the Winter Harbor Holding Company calls for the creation of a resort community on some 3,300 acres in Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro, including an undeveloped island and land bordering Acadia National Park at Schoodic Point. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Craig Idlebrook) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Schoodic-eco-resort-stirs-controversy/12340/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Boothbay-dealer-Butch-Cressey-has-seen-it-all/12339/ Ask a fisherman or dealer around Boothbay if he knows Leighton Cressey, and he's likely to inquire if Leighton might be related to Butch. Everybody in the fishing business there knows Cressey by his nickname: he's been in the fish and lobster business for over 40 years. Being raised in Boothbay Harbor by his grandparents gave him the advantage of gaining the values of that older generation. (He lost his mother as an infant and his Coast Guard father was stationed in Boston. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Sandra Dinsmore) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Boothbay-dealer-Butch-Cressey-has-seen-it-all/12339/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/A-Lifeboat-for-Fishermen/12233/ When congress revised bankruptcy laws a few years ago, they included one major provision that didn’t get media attention: fishermen gained access to Chapter 12.Available to farmers for decades, Chapter 12 allows filers to restructure debt at current value, coordinate loan expenses with income, and stops a fishing boat repossession. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Deborah Dubrule) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/A-Lifeboat-for-Fishermen/12233/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Faced-with-challenges-lobstermen-call-for-US-Canadian-combined-effort/12234/ At the end of the fifth annual Canadian/U.S. Lobstermen’s Town Meeting, harvesters from both countries took an unprecedented step, voting to try a combined promotional effort for lobster.Generic promotion of lobster is a distinct departure from the trend to “brand” products from a specific place such as Maine or Alaska to cash in on the mystique of the place. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Faced-with-challenges-lobstermen-call-for-US-Canadian-combined-effort/12234/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fundy-Tidal-Power-What-Impact-On-Fisheries/12238/ It’s no secret that tidal power is now being explored as a viable alternative to dependence on domestic and foreign fossil fuels. And the Bay of Fundy, with some of the highest tides in the world, is considered by experts to be a logical place for tidal power development.In April the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BOFEP), in conjunction with the Province of New Brunswick, held a series of consultations with communities around the Bay. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Bob Gustafson) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fundy-Tidal-Power-What-Impact-On-Fisheries/12238/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Portland-firm-recycles-sails-things-green-and-supports-good-causes/12257/ What do you call a manufacturing business that has managed to thrive while keeping its entire production local and maintaining a “green” mentality and a true sense of community? In Maine, some would call it miraculous.Sea Bags produces a line of high quality tote bags made from recycled sails. Owners Hannah Kubiak and Beth Shissler are adamant about keeping production of their product in Maine, and in Portland in particular; some similar products are produced overseas. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Kris Osgood) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Portland-firm-recycles-sails-things-green-and-supports-good-causes/12257/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Product-Idea/12259/ To the editor:Here’s a product idea for the lobster industry: last Christmas (and the Christmas before) I tried to find packaged, freeze-dried, or canned Maine lobster meat to send to friends in other states. I tried the supermarkets, the specialty stores, and asked the few lobstermen who were still going out. No luck. I’d like to see such a product — maybe six ounces of lobster meat for maybe $10 retail — the sort of thing to stuff the stockings of four or five distant friends. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (Vincent Frazzetta) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Product-Idea/12259/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Repo-rumor-swirls-among-lobstermen-swamped-in-debt/12232/ Lacking hard data or the sight of fishing boats clogging up coastal bank parking lots, it’s difficult to confirm persistent and growing rumors that repossessions are soaring and as many as 100 lobstermen could lose their boats through loan defaults this year.The number of commercial fishing vessel repossessions in Maine — and nationwide — is not available. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Deborah Dubrule) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Repo-rumor-swirls-among-lobstermen-swamped-in-debt/12232/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/PEI-fish-plants-take-steps-to-find-more-workers/12237/ The Prince Edward Island Seafood Processors Association  (PEISPA) is attempting to address a lack of suitable accommodations for fish plant workers.Michael MacInnis, executive director of the association, cites a lack of workers and competition from other sectors as part of the problem of finding workers for the industry in Canada’s smallest province. But more important is the lack of a good transportation system. Hence, the need to set up accessible accommodations near processing plants. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Kathy Birt) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/PEI-fish-plants-take-steps-to-find-more-workers/12237/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Rising-Green/12135/ While Hannaford Brothers has been the subject of bad-news stories concerning compromised credit and debit card numbers, the supermarket chain has also been showing up frequently in good-news EPA press releases.Amidst the usual EPA blotter of oil spills and hazardous waste fines, the Massachusetts-based grocery chain quietly has been making headlines for being an industry leader in energy conservation. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Craig Idlebrook) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Rising-Green/12135/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Violations-Not-Mentioned/12143/ To the editor:I work on behalf of a herring and mackerel processing plant in New Bedford that is supplied by four midwater trawling vessels [WWF March 2008]…While promoting the "traditional (sustainable?)" herring fishery of old, the author [of your story] fails to mention that several of the leading "traditional" Maine purse seiners are the subject of one of the largest federal fisheries violations ever levied on the east coast, and there are more ... info@workingwaterfront.org (Peter Moore) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Violations-Not-Mentioned/12143/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/A-Modest-Proposal/12145/ The world’s in an energy crisis. It’s also in an environmental crisis. Plus a social crisis, a fishery crisis, a political crisis, a population crisis, a resource crisis – you name it, we’ve got problems. What we don’t seem to have enough of are solutions. Solutions are particularly elusive when it comes to energy, so let’s start there. Oil’s through the roof and showing no signs of coming back down. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by David D. Platt) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/A-Modest-Proposal/12145/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Selling-the-Catch-Keeping-the-Money/12147/ n days of dwindling stocks and dwindling access to stocks, fishermen should be thinking of marketing their product directly to consumers to get the greatest value for their catch.A large variety of experts at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum offered a wide range of marketing ideas during a Feb. 28 panel entitled "More Bang for Your Buck: Owning Your Products from the Dock to the Plate. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Selling-the-Catch-Keeping-the-Money/12147/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/New-Things/12148/ The coast of Maine figures prominently in the imaginations of many desk-bound, traffic-trapped city dwellers, which is probably why products from Maine carry such cachet.The appeal of Maine’s food products is obvious: the state’s seafood, blueberries, potatoes and the value-added products made from them taste good. Lobster is a luxury item prized around the world. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/New-Things/12148/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/For-fishermen-Midcoast-Marine-is-a-snug-fit/12149/ In Waldoboro, Midcoast Marine operates in a former auto parts store near Moody’s Diner, and store manager Jeremy Young knows most customers by name. He jokes with them, allows them buy on credit and sometimes he delivers their purchases if it’s not too far out of his way."I take stuff up to the house. A customer will say, ‘just throw it in my garage.’ He feels like you’re looking out for him. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Steve Cartwright) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/For-fishermen-Midcoast-Marine-is-a-snug-fit/12149/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/New-device-helps-haul-moorings/12150/ arbormaster Steve Pixley has been hauling mooring chain in Camden harbor for the past seven years, one short section at a time, to see if it needs replacing. There’s got to be a better system, he remembers thinking. "I was tired of hauling chain the old way."So he invented The Harbor Master Tool, a device to haul boat and buoy moorings faster and with less effort. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Steve Cartwright) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/New-device-helps-haul-moorings/12150/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Can-fishing-and-oil-drilling-coexist-on-Georges-Bank/12153/ At least one Nova Scotia fisherman is willing to consider the future possibility of a fishery and oil drilling rigs coexisting on Georges Bank. The joint U.S.-Canadian moratorium on drilling was established in 1988. The ban was extended eight years ago and will expire in 2012. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Bob Gustafson) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Can-fishing-and-oil-drilling-coexist-on-Georges-Bank/12153/