http://www.workingwaterfront.com Sat, 17 May 2008 06:49:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/images/ww_banner_bg.png http://www.workingwaterfront.com 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/reviews/Twelve-Miles-from-the-Rest-of-the-World-A-Portrait-of-the-Damariscotta-River/12372/ Twelve Miles from the Rest of the World will delight people who live near or have visited the Damariscotta River; people who love history or are fascinated by rivers in general; those who appreciate and aspire to beautiful photography and a wide range of other readers who enjoy a ramble through natural and cultural history. The book grew out of Barnaby Porter's 40 years of meandering along the Damariscotta River, which is actually a 12-mile estuary. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Muriel L. Hendrix) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/reviews/Twelve-Miles-from-the-Rest-of-the-World-A-Portrait-of-the-Damariscotta-River/12372/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/If-its-May-it-Must-be-icebergs-%94-or-just-plain-ice/12381/ In Atlantic Canada there's one thing you can count on during the month of May - ice. It can take the form of icebergs drifting along the Newfoundland coast or it can take the form of a frozen harbor that delays the opening of spring lobster season. Residents take it all on stride. For example, if you happen to be talking to Tina Pretty on the staff of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) in St. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Bob Gustafson) Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/If-its-May-it-Must-be-icebergs-%94-or-just-plain-ice/12381/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fishing-Smarter/12226/ Monhegan Island lobstermen are nearing the end of their first season under new rules. They are fishing a longer season with fewer traps per person, and so far, they’re having surprising success catching as many or more lobsters.“We are now fishing 300 traps apiece,” said Doug Boynton, who has been fishing off Monhegan for 38  years. “And the fishing is as good as when we were fishing 600 traps. That, to me, is miraculous. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Nancy Griffin) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fishing-Smarter/12226/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Opposition/12229/ In a marine ecosystem often referred to as “the Saudi Arabia of wind,” where generation of unlimited amounts of this clean renewable energy are believed possible, some would-be ratepayers seem to care much as much about what’s on their horizons as their utility bills.Such thinking is evident on Nantucket Sound, where Cape Wind Associates proposes to install 130 3.6-megawatt wind turbines in a 24-square-mile portion of Horseshoe Shoal with an estimated output of 468 megawatts. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Peter Brace) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Opposition/12229/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Grey-seals-proliferate-along-the-Northeast-coast-alarming-fishermen/12235/ “They’re not spawning, they’re fleeing,” said Denny Morrow, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Fish Packers Association, describing fish trying to avoid being eaten by grey seals that attack tight spawning schools. We all look for seals when on the water. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Sandra Dinsmore) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Grey-seals-proliferate-along-the-Northeast-coast-alarming-fishermen/12235/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Map-encourages-informed-use/12236/ The Damariscotta River Association (DRA) recently published an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to explore any section of the Damariscotta River Estuary. “A Small Craft Explorers’ Map and Guide” was created through a collaborative effort of DRA and various users and protectors of the river. All preserves and other tracts managed by the association are visible on the map, and boaters are encouraged to take time to stop and explore their trails and history. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Muriel L. Hendrix) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Map-encourages-informed-use/12236/ 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/Plans-for-port-recreation-drawn-for-Sears-Island/12244/ Marine transportation, recreation, education and conservation can coexist on Sears Island, according to members of the Joint Use Planning Committee, who have worked over the last nine months to delineate the island into 600 acres of conservation land and 341 acres zoned for transportation uses. Gov. John Baldacci created the Sears Island Planning Initiative in January of 2006 in an attempt to end decades of controversy and uncertainty surrounding the island’s fate. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Catherine Schmitt) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Plans-for-port-recreation-drawn-for-Sears-Island/12244/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Going-Green-and-Local-Knowledge/12263/ To the editor:Reading about the “greening” of the town of Cranberry Isles (WWF April 2008) and the area supermarkets was exciting. “Little Things,” the title of the editorial, obviously add up to something much bigger. I would add a credit to Hannaford Brothers:  the reusable green bag I bought in the Bangor store last August is a very tasteful shade of green, plus roomier and better designed than those offered in three different chains here —and for the same price. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (Byrna Weir) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/mail/Going-Green-and-Local-Knowledge/12263/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/editorials/Exporting-our-Problems/12225/ At the risk of appearing as if we’ve taken sides in a reliably contentious island issue, we’re publishing yet another story on island-based energy development. This time the location is the Nantucket-Martha’s Vineyard-Block Island area in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where Cape Wind Associates wants to locate a mega-project, and where the three island communities are working on ways to achieve greater energy independence. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by David D. Platt) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/editorials/Exporting-our-Problems/12225/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Navigating-wakes-and-shoals-an-association-protects-a-river-and-its-resources/12227/ Barnaby Porter, who has lived on the Damariscotta River for close to 40 years, tells the story of a day when he, his son and naturalists from the Chewonki Foundation tried to return an young osprey to the nest on a navigational marker that the bird had fallen from.  “We pretty much knew it was a fruitless mission,” he says (Chewonki did end up caring for the osprey), “but we wanted to see if we could get it back into the nest. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Muriel L. Hendrix) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Navigating-wakes-and-shoals-an-association-protects-a-river-and-its-resources/12227/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/reviews/A-Coastal-Companion-A-Year-in-the-Gulf-Of-Maine-From-Cape-Cod-to-Canada/12265/ It is mid-April as I write this, flipping pages through this enchanting book, arranged to take us on an ecological, environmental, perceptive creature-journey of a year, from January 1 to December 31, a path touching the rise and receding of seasons and the living forces that harbor planet earth as home.I must watch, I note, for April’s full moon on the 20th, the Pink Moon, named for the wild ground phlox, one of the season’s earliest blooms. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Hannah Merker) Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/reviews/A-Coastal-Companion-A-Year-in-the-Gulf-Of-Maine-From-Cape-Cod-to-Canada/12265/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Things-Look-Different-There/12117/ Our toddler finally made us go west.  Record snowfall and a two-year old who didn’t like to wear clothes gave us cabin fever this past winter, so we accepted an invitation from my sister-in-law in Portland, Oregon for a month-long visit. I irrationally resisted visiting for years. I blamed my reluctance on a leftover prejudice that the West Coast was filled with loonies with healing crystals. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Craig Idlebrook) Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Things-Look-Different-There/12117/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/SELF-conference-to-engage-local-food-producers-others/12166/ A SELF Reliance conference (the acronym stands  for Shelter, Energy, Livelihood and Food) is set for April 19-20 at the Blue Hill Consolidated School. The intention of SELF Reliance is to engage farmers, fishermen,  builders, energy providers, businesses and anyone concerned about sustainable living in Maine’s rural communities.  Keynote speaker Russell Libby opens the conference Saturday with a talk on “Our Next Agriculture:  Building Deep Connections. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Judith Lawson) Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/SELF-conference-to-engage-local-food-producers-others/12166/ 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/articles/Swans-Island-as-in-other-communities-the-definition-of-sustainability-is-evolving/12136/ Katie Chapman, Swan’s Island Alternative Energy Fellow, describes her position as "thrilling all the way around." Catalyzed by some of the highest electricity prices in the nation and a cost of raw power that has doubled since 1998, Swan’s Island Electric Co-op is measuring the island’s wind resources and using the collected data to begin analyzing the potential economic benefit of erecting a wind turbine. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Cyrus Moulton) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Swans-Island-as-in-other-communities-the-definition-of-sustainability-is-evolving/12136/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/At-their-town-meeting-Cranberry-Isles-vote-green/12139/ The Town of Cranberry Isles passed a series of articles at its annual Town Meeting on March 10 to promote a groundbreaking environmental agenda, pledging to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement; spend up to $10,000 to promote and support energy efficiency projects; and purchase electrical power for municipal needs from a renewable energy provider. All 36 articles on the 2008 warrant were passed at the meeting, held at the Islesford Neighborhood House on Little Cranberry Island. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Amanda Ravenhill) Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/At-their-town-meeting-Cranberry-Isles-vote-green/12139/ 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/