http://www.workingwaterfront.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:58:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/images/ww_banner_bg.png http://www.workingwaterfront.com http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Beyond-power-Will-offshore-wind-development-bring-jobs/13695/ State legislators and industry advocates have been heralding the coming benefits of offshore wind development: it will reduce Maine's costly addiction to imported fossil fuels, lower the state's ecological footprint, and provided a much-needed stimulus to the state's struggling economy. According to Dr. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Suzanne Pude and Gillian Garratt-Reed) Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Beyond-power-Will-offshore-wind-development-bring-jobs/13695/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fathoming-What-we-know-about-rockweed/13684/ In the last several years, Acadian Seaplants Limited, a company based in Canada, has expanded their rockweed harvesting operations into Maine, stimulating new regulations from Maine's Department of Marine Resources and raising old and new questions about the potential impacts of commercial-scale harvesting. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Dr. Heather Deese and Catherine Schmitt) Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fathoming-What-we-know-about-rockweed/13684/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/Islands-can-help-fight-global-warming/13683/ The larger international community needs to take coordinated responsibility for monitoring and mediating problems caused by global warming.  Individuals can accelerate efforts to prepare for climate change. On the islands, that includes community organizing. Environmentally, that includes protecting sea grass, restricting fertilizer use, green building and redesigning infrastructure at shorelines to account for habitat migration. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Aviva Rahmani) Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/Islands-can-help-fight-global-warming/13683/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-Voting-with-their-%EF%AC%81ns/13676/ This column originally appeared in the February issue of National Fisherman magazine. Now that the dust has settled a bit from the intense political debate that swirled through the Copenhagen climate change conference, we can all take a step back and ask ourselves what current research shows we might expect for Gulf of Maine fisheries in the future. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Anne Hayden and Philip Conkling) Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-Voting-with-their-%EF%AC%81ns/13676/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/As-electric-co-op-conducts-sound-experiment-Vinalhaven-residents-debate-solution-to-turbine-noise-issue/13674/ On February 1, the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, Inc. began an experiment in which the three 1.5 megawatt General Electric wind turbines on Vinalhaven will be randomly slowed down at night for one month. On January 29, the co-op's board of directors sent letters to 38 households located within a half-mile of the 388-foot tall turbines. About half of those are seasonal homes, according to Chip Farrington, the co-op's general manager. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by David Tyler) Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/As-electric-co-op-conducts-sound-experiment-Vinalhaven-residents-debate-solution-to-turbine-noise-issue/13674/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Objects-in-Mirror-Gotcha/13668/ Benjamin Franklin once said, "Never argue with a man who buys his ink by the barrel." I assume that the Maine Sunday Telegram buys ink by the barrel, but I've got a serious bone to pick with them over their January 24th front-page coverage of the Fox Islands wind-power project. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Philip Conkling) Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Objects-in-Mirror-Gotcha/13668/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fathoming-What-are-the-marine-impacts-of-offshore-wind-turbines/13667/ Editor's note: We're introducing a new feature called Fathoming. These articles will explore scientific topics pertinent to Maine's coastal waters. The articles are made possible, in part, by funds from Maine Sea Grant. Today there aren't any wind turbines off Maine's coast, but there may be in the next few years.  Maine is actively pursuing ocean wind energy, as are other states, and European nations have already installed over 700 offshore turbines. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Dr. Heather Deese and Catherine Schmitt) Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fathoming-What-are-the-marine-impacts-of-offshore-wind-turbines/13667/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/The-Long-View-Offshore-wind-and-the-public-trust/13666/ To anyone who does not know better-which means most of Maine's mainland residents, and lawmakers in Augusta-the waters of the state of Maine look like a featureless ocean out to the three mile limit and beyond into federal waters. Of course, the three-mile limit balloons out around Maine's offshore islands, so the state's territorial limits actually extend up to 22 miles out from the mainland around such islands as Criehaven, Matinicus and Monhegan. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Philip Conkling) Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/The-Long-View-Offshore-wind-and-the-public-trust/13666/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-New-England-food-fight/13646/ This column originally appeared in the January issue of National Fisherman. For such a little fish, the herring is causing huge problems for the three major fishing industries in New England—the herring fishery, the lobster fishery and the groundfishery for cod and haddock. The reason, of course, is that herring are the glue that holds the marine ecosystem together in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank—and everyone and everything wants to take the herring out for lunch. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Anne Hayden and Philip Conkling) Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-New-England-food-fight/13646/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Field-Notes-Making-the-invisible-visible/13635/ 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 curve... this is my family's bottom, and it is part of the community's bottom." In this discussion, lines are being drawn on a seemingly unbound ocean. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Rob Snyder) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Field-Notes-Making-the-invisible-visible/13635/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Objects-in-Mirror-Weather-small-talk/13601/ Because Maine is a state of small towns-495 of them at last count-spread out like tiny nodes in an extensive neural landscape, we are practiced in the arts of small talk. When you run into your neighbors at the ferry, at the post office or the store, it helps to have reliable conversational gambits to while away the moments of spontaneous company. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Philip Conkling) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Objects-in-Mirror-Weather-small-talk/13601/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-Permit-banking-holds-promise-close-to-shore/13595/ In our ongoing effort to introduce more readers to the online edition of Working Waterfront, we will feature Anne Hayden and Philip Conkling's monthly column from National Fisherman, From the Town Landing. This column originally appeared in the December issue. Let us know what you think of this new feature. September 1 was the witching hour for New England's groundfishermen. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Anne Hayden and Philip Conkling) Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/From-the-Town-Landing-Permit-banking-holds-promise-close-to-shore/13595/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Opinion/13572/ Since the three General Electric turbines began operating at the beginning of November, they have generated more than 1,200,000-kilowatt hours of electricity; significantly exceeding what ratepayers on Vinalhaven and North Haven used during this period. This project represents an enormous boon to island residents, and will be an important part of making the islands economically viable for decades to come. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Addison Ames, Bill Alcorn and George Baker) Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Opinion/13572/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Field-Notes/13570/ 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 seeing and experiencing. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Rob Snyder) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Field-Notes/13570/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Opinion-Hard-lessons-from-the-Fox-Islands-Wind-Project/13571/ North Haven and Vinalhaven Schools were let out for the ribbon cutting ceremony on November 17. Students passed out colorful pinwheels and excitement was in the air. Governor John Baldacci joined the crowd. First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree flew in from Washington, D.C. to join her daughter Hannah Pingree, Speaker of the House, in order to celebrate the completion of the Fox Islands Wind Project. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Sally Wylie) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/online-exclusives/Opinion-Hard-lessons-from-the-Fox-Islands-Wind-Project/13571/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Sectors-A-new-course-for-fishermen/13556/ What are fishing sectors all about? It's about the government trying to give another management option to New England's groundfish fishermen. This new management plan, taking effect in May, will allow commercial fishermen in defined "sectors" to decide on their own how to manage their catch which will be capped by a limit. The sector concept is a grouping, not a geographical location. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Steve Cartwright) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Sectors-A-new-course-for-fishermen/13556/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Islands-Coalition-updated-on-Maines-offshore-wind-plans/13538/ A group of island representatives and invited guests attended The Maine Islands Coalition (MIC) quarterly meeting on Friday, November 13 in Rockland at the Island Institute. Coalition Chair, Roger Berle introduced the main topic for discussion: ocean energy siting legislation and Maine. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Mary K. Terry) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Islands-Coalition-updated-on-Maines-offshore-wind-plans/13538/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/The-Long-View/13542/ In looking back over the troubles and accomplishments of island communities this year, we can truly say it's been the best of times; the worst of times. The year started out disastrously for most Maine lobstermen after last fall's October nightmare when the bottom fell out of the lobster market almost overnight, and only modestly improved as the year wore relentlessly on for fishermen. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Philip Conkling) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/columns/The-Long-View/13542/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fishermen-react-to-proposed-offshore-wind-testing-sites/13555/ "There's very little [ocean] bottom that isn't fished for lobster," stated Spruce Head fisherman Robert Baines, referring to state waters from the beach to three miles out. Ocean bottom chosen for offshore wind testing sites, "will inevitably displace fishermen," he said. The Maine State Planning Office and the Maine Department of Conservation have nominated four areas in state waters for testing of offshore wind technology. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by Sandra Dinsmore) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Fishermen-react-to-proposed-offshore-wind-testing-sites/13555/ http://www.workingwaterfront.com/editorials/A-new-system-of-fisheries-management/13603/ Groundfishermen are in the midst of one of the biggest changes is fisheries management in decades. Starting May 1, a new management plan takes effect, allowing commercial fishermen to organize in "sectors," to manage an allocation of fish. A sector is a group of fishermen and is not based on a geographical area. The new rules were adopted because the current days-at-sea system was not working. ... info@workingwaterfront.org (by David A. Tyler) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.workingwaterfront.com/editorials/A-new-system-of-fisheries-management/13603/