Issuu

News of Maine’s Coast and Islands

THE WORKING

volume 34, № 7

published by the island institute

september 2020 n free circulation: 50,000

workingwaterfront.com

Group works to recycle ‘ghost’ lobster traps Traps 2 Treasure project underway Downeast By Tom Walsh

obstermen call it “ghost gear”—the remnants of lost, costly lobster traps to snags, storms, trap wars, and damage by both sailboats and power boats, all hazards inherent in fishing the Gulf of Maine. It comes with the territory, and the out-of-pocket costs are significant for those who now fish an estimated 2.2 million traps a year. Then there’s the impact on the seafloor environment. “One of the issues with ghost gear are traps that wind up on the bottom, but continue to fish,” says Buzz Scott, the visionary behind the ongoing Traps 2 Treasure phenomenon this is taking root in fishing communities along Maine’s extensive working waterfront. “Any animal that enters one of those ghost traps can’t escape and has a very good chance of dying. Then there are the steel wire traps themselves, which for decades have been polluting the seafloor.” Wire traps replaced wooden traps and have been the norm since the early 1980s. Today there are 4,400

Buzz Scott (right) and colleague Matt Louis oversee the lobster trap recycling center adjacent to the Gouldsboro transfer station on behalf of the OceansWide Traps 2 Treasure project. Unlike the next-door transfer station, the facility offers lobster trap recycling at no cost to fishermen with retired gear. PHOTO: TOM WALSH

licensed lobstermen, many fishing the Gulf of Maine with as many as 800 traps each. At whatever rate they fish, lobstermen expect to lose 10 percent of their gear, traps lost overboard or on the bottom, in addition to traps retired onshore. New traps cost between $100 and $150 each. For a lobsterman fishing 800 traps who expects to lose 80 traps a season, the seasonal cost is at least $8,000.

“The number of traps that end up on the bottom is in the millions, just within the Gulf of Maine,” Scott said. “The official ghost gear estimate is 5 to 10 million in Maine waters. I think it’s much higher than that.” Scott’s Traps 2 Treasure project also addresses a strategy for recycling wire mesh traps abandoned continued on page 6

High risk for humpbacks off Chesapeake Bay Study shows ship strikes are bigger threat than previously known Reprinted with permission from Bay Journal, a nonprofit monthly publication focusing on the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay region. (bayjournal.com)

By Jeremy Cox

e was known by a number in life. In death, he became a statistic.

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Attracted by a relative abundance of its first peer-reviewed paper. It shows fish, growing numbers of humpback that many more humpbacks are at risk whales spend the winter in the waters from ship strikes and suggests that authorities may need where the Chesapeake to take more actions to Bay empties into the protect them. Atlantic Ocean. No. The agency Between December 166675 was one of them. 2015 and February 2017, Researchers tracked has assembled researchers tagged and the young male with a a scientific followed 35 humpbacks satellite tag for ten days workgroup to at the mouth of the bay. in January 2017 as he Their study, published in dodged huge vessels in study the 123 the journal Frontiers in one of the busiest shipwhale fatalities Marine Science in March, ping lanes on the East reveals that those whales Coast. The next month, documented typically spent more than the whale’s body washed so far. a quarter of their time ashore on Virginia Beach. inside one of the region’s A necropsy confirmed busy shipping channels. the scientists’ fears: He The researchers didn’t estimate how had been struck by a large ship. After six years of monitoring hump- many whales were directly killed after backs’ movements in the Hampton colliding with ship hulls or propellers. Roads region, the team conducting But one of the study’s authors said it the Navy-funded study has published continued on page 2

The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Humpback whale. PHOTO COURTESY ALLIED WHALE

HUMPBACKS

continued from page 1 demonstrates that ships and the whales are often trying to share the same narrow sea corridor—with potentially deadly consequences for the large mammals. “They tend to be relatively slow and spend time at the surface, and they tend to congregate where big ships are trying to pass through,” said Joel Bell, a Norfolkbased senior marine resources specialist with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Ship strikes, he added, “are just an unfortunate consequence.”

HUMPBACKS IN CRISIS

The study is part of a wider research effort scrambling to explain why dozens of humpback whales have mysteriously turned up dead along the East Coast from Maine to Florida since 2016. The deaths have prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to label the phenomenon an “unusual mortality event.” The agency has assembled a scientific workgroup to study the 123 whale fatalities documented so far. Early results suggest that about half of the known causes of death are tied to boat-related mishaps, such as ship strikes and fishing-gear entanglement. Of the 13 states where dead humpbacks have been found, Virginia has recorded the most after New York, with 23, according to NOAA. Ship traffic is heavy at the entrance to the Chesapeake. Much of it is generated by the Port of Virginia, the sixth-busiest U.S. container port, and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval installation. But the area also is teeming with recreational boaters and commercial fishing vessels. Humpback whales were once rarely spotted in the bay’s waters. Most of the North Atlantic population of humpbacks migrates southward in the winter from Arctic waters to breeding grounds in the Caribbean Sea. But for nearly 30 years, marine scientists have detected an increasing number of young males stopping short in waters between New Jersey and North Carolina, with many clustered at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Those tagged during the Navy’s study have roamed widely during their monthslong stay, Bell said. Some veer well offshore. Others venture as far west as the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. But when they’re ready to eat, they follow their prey—a small, oily fish called menhaden—to the bay’s shipping channels. “They’re drawn to that deeper water within a relatively shallower area,” Bell added. “Unfortunately, they’re trying to use the same areas that the big vessels are.”

TRACKING THE WHALES

A Navy spokesman said each of its vessels has specially trained spotters onboard to keep a lookout for whales, including humpbacks, whenever they’re in the Chesapeake shipping channels. The Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act require the Navy to also monitor the impacts that its ships have on sea life. A decade ago, the Navy hired the consulting firm HDR to track the whales, which centered on creating a photo database of individual whales. That evidence has shown that nearly 10 percent of the more than 100 whales identified in and around the bay had scars or other wounds consistent with propeller injuries or ship strikes. As questions mounted about a possible link between the Navy’s activities and whale deaths, the military ramped up its monitoring. Since 2014, it has spent more than $1.6 million to supplement the annual photographic surveys with satellite tags, giving a clearer picture of humpback whale movements. Bell said he hopes the mysteries they unlock about humpbacks in Virginia will help guide management decisions in other parts of the world as well. In some places, humpback whale populations remain endangered, but the North Atlantic region was delisted in 2016.

“We’ve chosen to take the approach of not just monitoring what we’re doing, but helping the scientific community understand how marine mammals respond to human activities,” he said. It is no pleasure cruise, he added. The tagging takes place from an open boat during the winter, when winds are cold and unforgiving. Seas are rarely smooth. The HDR team uses a modified air rifle to fire two darts simultaneously into a whale’s dorsal fin or just below it. “We don’t really like to miss a shot because they cost about $5,000 to $8,000 each, and they sink,” Bell said. The darts provide the anchoring for a golf ball-size transmitter that sends continuous location signals to a satellite. After anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, the tag falls off. Over three winters, the investigators found that all 35 whales they tagged traversed a shipping channel at least once. They also swam freely, covering an average of 40 miles per day. The biggest traveler was a male that trekked more than 300 miles to just south of Massachusetts. On several occasions, the researchers captured photos of ships passing dangerously close to whales as they breached. “We’ve been out there and seen these ships passing super-close to these animals while they’re diving down and foraging,” said Jessica Aschettino, HDR’s project manager. “It is pretty scary when you see those close calls.” Three tags had the ability to record depth information. This data, too, pointed to trouble for the humpbacks. Nearly 90 percent of the whales’ dives were within 50 feet of the surface, the maximum draft of any of the ships crossing through the Bay’s waters.

PROTECTIONS RECOMMENDED

The study recommends that an existing seasonal boat speed zone at the bay’s mouth be expanded to help shield humpbacks from ship strikes. From November to April, all vessels measuring 65 feet or longer are required to stay below 10 knots per hour. The “Seasonal Management Area” was put in place there and elsewhere along the East Coast to protect endangered right whales. The speed zone should be extended farther into the bay and farther offshore, Aschettino and her co-authors say. Her team’s surveys have continued each year. They’ve added a drone to improve their length measurements, which help determine a whale’s age. They’re also expanding the monitoring of diving behavior. A Duke University study, also funded by the Navy, is carrying the HDR work a step further. It just wrapped up a second season using suction cup-attached tags to record movements and sounds. Because the transmitters use radio waves instead of satellite signals, the researchers must follow in a boat no more than five miles away from a tagged whale. The study aims to match the presence of ships, as measured by the noises their engines make in the recordings, with the movements whales make in response, said Jeanne Shearer, the doctoral student leading the research. If whales consistently behave in a certain way to passing ships, that information could be passed along to ship captains or fishery managers to reduce the frequency of strikes, she added. So far, her evidence suggests that humpbacks tend to head for the surface when they hear loud sounds, putting them in greater danger of a collision. “But that’s very preliminary,” she cautioned. Whale 166675 was the only animal tagged during the HDR study whose death could be confirmed. The whale had a cut so deep on its back that it exposed internal organs. A ship propeller was the likely cause, the researchers wrote. Jeremy Cox is a Bay Journal staff writer based in Maryland. He can be reached at jcox@bayjournal.com.

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020 www.workingwaterfront.com . April 2020

3 13

RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION—

Is technology the future of lobster fishing? By Laurie Schreiber

coustic buoy releases and tracking software: These are high-tech options under consideration as ways to eliminate the potential for interaction between the lobster fishery and the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Ideas include raising traps from the sea floor by means of acoustically signaled lifting mechanisms, rather than hauling by vertical ropes that stretch from the floor to surface buoys. Fishermen aren’t enthusiastic. In one survey, they cited the cost of converting to ropeless fishing—as much as $350,000 per boat—and the challenges of operating digital devices needed to work the acoustic system while they’re suited up in challenging sea conditions and winter weather. “How can I deal with these devices with these gloves on?” one respondent told Libby Jewett, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Acidification Program and a board member with Stonington’s Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries. Libby Jewett, director of the NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, is seen in this Jewett conducted the survey last December and presented her findings during screenshot showing what a typical lobster trap set looks like. the MCCF’s Lunch & Learn Series in July. She interviewed 14 lobstermen, along with fishery scientists and others, to get ideas on how to reduce the potential for interactions. In July, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature recent months include Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s use of acoustic changed its listing of the whale from endangered to critically endangered. It’s gliders, and deployment of acoustic monitoring buoys along the Maine coast in already in the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act’s nearshore waters. highest risk categories. About 400 individuals remain, and likely fewer than 100 Another idea? breeding females. A high number of deaths in recent years was caused by vessel “Some fishermen said they would be willing to fish fewer traps, but only if strikes and fishing gear entanglements, according to a NOAA investigation. mandated to do so,” Jewett said. Climate change is exacerbating the intersection between right whales and the fishery, said Jewett. The Gulf of Maine is warming more quickly than most of the world’s oceans, she noted. “This is causing all sorts of changes in this region,” including shifting distribution of Calanus finmarchicus, a plankton species that’s a favored right whale prey. Once abundant in the Bay of Fundy, Calanus is now seen more in theJohn GulfMartin, of St. Bud Staples, and Elsie Gillespie chat around the woodstove at the annual town meeting. Lawrence, likely due to changing water temperatures. “Now whales are being found in great abundance in the Gulf of St. Lawrence” resulting in new interactions with fishing gear, Jewett said. The lobster industry is also changing, she said. Fishermen traditionally fished in The Marine Stewardship Council suspended a sustainability certification inshore areas. Now, more are setting traps farther offshore. for the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery as a result of a federal court case that Changing whale migrations, along with a greater incidence of offshore fishing, raises questions about the impact of the fishery on the endangered North could increase the risk of entanglement, she said. Atlantic right whale. The fishery’s major issue, she said, are those vertical ropes. Options for reducing risk, she noted, include use of fewer lines or traps; lines The council, headquartered in London, England, is an international that whales can easily break out of; and knowing whale whereabouts in order to nonprofit that uses its “ecolabel” and “fishery certification” programs to mitigate risk of interaction. recognize sustainable fishing practices. According to its website, advantages As to ropeless fishing, options proposed include using a compressed air/bag lift of certification include enhanced reputation and promotional opportunities. mechanism that’s attached to the trap; an acoustic signal would inflate the bag and The suspension is effective Aug. 30. It came in response to a U.S. District float the trap to the surface. Court ruling in April that found the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Along with responses that the idea would be too expensive and too difficult Administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it authorized the to manage, fishermen said it would result in a mess of trawls being set over each lobster fishery without appropriately analyzing its impact on the endangered other because they won’t know where other trawls have been set. And they said it whale. The decision was made in a lawsuit brought by a group of environwould take too long for traps to float to the surface. Jewett said the answer could be additional technology—software that allows mental organizations. The ruling triggered an expedited audit of the fishery. fishermen to detect each others’ trawls. Government subsidies could help bring The audit found the fishery no longer met principles established by the down costs, she said. council that are related to endangered, threatened, and protected species. Jewett also asked fishermen about the idea of adding more traps to a trawl, in The certification is held by the Maine Certified Sustainable Lobster order to reduce end line numbers. That resulted in concerns around safety; the Association—a group of New England lobster wharf operators, procesneed for bigger anchors in order to keep larger trawls in place, which could result sors, dealers and wholesalers. In a separate release, the association said it in more gear on an entangled whale; and the higher likelihood that lobstermen would work to regain the fishery’s certification after the National Oceanic will set atop each other. and Atmospheric Administration issues a new analysis regarding impacts With only 400 whales, some fishermen suggested instituting a tracking system Levi Moulden that would tell them when whales are present so they can remove traps. But, said to right whales. Jewett, tracker tags can’t be inserted into North Atlantic right whales because of the risk of causing additional harm. However, she added, trial initiatives in

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The Working Waterfront . September 2020

In age of division, process and structure are key, says Hillary Clinton By Laurie Schreiber

n politics, there have always been deep differences of opinion and partisan divides. But processes and institutions provide opportunities for people to come together, follow behavioral norms established over generations, and see whether it’s possible to find common ground. Those institutions are in danger of being undermined and, indeed, forgotten in today’s political climate. Those were key points made by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first speaker at this year’s Champlain Institute, an ideas festival offered by College of the Atlantic. From July 27 to July 31, the institute, held virtually this year, hosted leaders from around the country and the world to discuss pressing issues. The focus this year was “November 3: What’s at Stake?” Clinton has spent four decades in public service as an advocate, attorney, First Lady, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and winner of the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton said that, in the face of serious challenges to the civil polity, it’s important to remember lessons hard-learned about how a diverse population works together to solve serious problems. Politicians and society in general, she said, must commit to processes that are essential to cooling passions and allowing people to get together. Young people, she said, play an important role in leading the change that needs to happen. That’s become apparent in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the long-overdue reckoning of systemic racism, she said. “We all have to take a hard look at ourselves,” she said, citing John Lewis, the civil rights leader and long-time U.S. congressman who died in July, as an example of never giving up nor giving in. “He never lost that sense of commitment, of purpose, of joy in trying to bring us all toward a more perfect union,” she said. “We celebrate his life. But the best way to pay tribute to John Lewis is to continue his work.” Clinton expressed concern about “one of the biggest challenges we face right now”—ensuring a straightforward presidential election in November, particularly during the pandemic. Already, she noted, some primaries have been problematic.

Hillary Clinton.

PHOTO COURTESY COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC

She cited Georgia, where people waited hours because there weren’t enough voting sites or machines. States should be preparing now to ensure orderly proceedings, particularly when it comes to vote-by-mail, since many people won’t want to vote in person due to the pandemic, she said. “The last thing we need in this election is any question about the outcome,” she said. With regard to the pandemic, Clinton cited the federal government’s response as too little and too late. “We’re faced with a situation that’s much worse than it needed to be,” she said. Clinton noted that women and girls are experiencing disproportionate effects of the pandemic as a result of lost employment and schooling, or increased domestic violence, particularly in the developing world but also in the U.S. That will be exacerbated if child care facilities and schools can’t open, she said. “It’s a Hobson’s choice,” she said. “A lot of the women who have to work are often working in some of the most vulnerable positions. Other women who have to work can’t figure out how to without child care or safe school reopenings. We’ll have to pay close attention around the world but also here at home.” Clinton said she looks forward to domestic and international course corrections if presidential candidate Joseph Biden is elected. “How can we put some of the acrimony of the past few years behind us and become a better country again?” she said. If Biden is elected, she continued, foreign policy priorities will include reasserting the U.S.’s commitment to the structures of the international order, sending a clear signal to adversaries regarding aggressive behavior, and returning to the Paris climate agreement. “There’s a lot of work that need to be done,” she said.

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www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

AQUACULTURE LEASE APPLICATION

NOTICE OF HEARING

The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is holding a public hearing to take evidence on an aquaculture lease application for the following:

Applicant Name and Lease Type Culture Type An artist’s rendering of the new building in Northeast Harbor.

COA, Mount Desert 365 to build student housing Northeast Harbor complex will fill Main Street gap

ollege of the Atlantic and Mount Desert 365 are partnering to bring a new, mixed-use development to downtown Northeast Harbor. The COA Mount Desert Center will comprise a three-story structure at 141 Main Street, with year-round apartments for student and faculty housing, plus street-level retail space. The project will bring approximately 15 students and a guest or faculty member to live downtown, but it will be more than a simple space to house students, said COA President Darron Collins. “The center will be a catalyst for deepening COA’s mission to add to the cultural, intellectual, and economic vitality of Mount Desert Island, while supporting MD365’s mission of promoting the long-term economic vitality of the town of Mount Desert,” Collins said. MD365 acquired the property recently and has entered into a longterm land lease with the college. The property has been vacant since 2008, when the Joy Building came down with two adjacent structures as a result of a fire. Architect John Gordon, who will design the new building, said that energy concerns would be of paramount importance. “Our primary goal is for the new building to present a traditional facade that will be a comfortable fit on Main Street in downtown Northeast Harbor,” Gordon said. “In keeping with COA’s long tradition of being a vanguard of sustainability, this building’s energy performance and low-carbon goals will

be at the forefront when compared to other similar buildings in this climate.” The center will house primarily older COA students who have demonstrated a commitment to leadership and subject matter expertise, Collins said. The school will explore partnerships with organizations like Mount Desert Elementary School, MD365, and the Maine Seacoast Mission to maximize student integration and benefit to the Mount Desert community. Center goals also include engaging students and faculty with research and academic work in Mount Desert, offering clean energy solutions through the COA Community Energy Center, hosting events and talks in the town, and eventually establishing a presence in the Northeast Harbor marina by keeping one of the college’s three research vessels on a slip there. Mount Desert 365 is a communitybased organization dedicated to promoting long-term economic vitality in the town of Mount Desert through expansion of sustainable year-round residential communities and economic revitalization of commercial districts. The nonprofit, formed in 2017, owns a number of commercial and residential lots in Northeast Harbor where they intend to offer affordable yearround commercial space, apartments, or homeownership in a shared-equity, land-lease model. Later this year the Maine Seacoast Mission will move its administrative offices into a new building under construction in Northeast Harbor, bringing ten new year-round positions into the community.

Species General Location, Town Acreage Requested Lease Term Requested

Community Shellfish Co. LLC Standard Lease Suspended culture (gear on bottom and/or suspended) and bottom culture (no gear) Shellfish

West of Oar Island and north of Hog Island, Medomak River, Bremen

4.19 acres 20 Years

This proceeding was originally postponed due to COVID-19. The public hearing on this application has now been rescheduled as follows:

September 15, 2020 3:00 p.m. Remote hearing conducted via Microsoft Teams If the public hearing listed above is postponed an alternate remote public hearing will be held on September 16, 2020, at the same time. Notice of a postponement will be posted on the Department’s website. INFORMATION ON DMR WEBSITE: See DMR’s website, for the lease application and DMR site report: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/aquaculture/leases/pending/index.html

PARTICIPATING AT THE HEARING: Interested persons may participate in the remote hearing by computer or phone. To help manage the proceeding, interested persons need complete an online registration form no later than 5pm on September 8, 2020. After the registration deadline, DMR will contact interested persons with information about how to join the remote hearing. If you are unable to register online or need assistance with the form, please contact DMR.

Online registration can be completed at: https://www.maine.gov/dmr/aquaculture/meetinglist.html RELEVANT AUTHORITY: The rules governing the leasing program are found in Chapter 2 of DMR regulations. The statutory provisions are: 5 M.R.S.A. §9501 et seq. & 12 M.R.S.A. §6072(1) et seq., & 12 M.R.S.A. §6072-A(1) et seq. Address questions to: Maine Department of Marine Resources Attn: Aquaculture Division 21 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333-0021 (207) 624-6567 Send emails to DMRaquaculture@maine.gov

For disability accommodations, contact Meredith Mendelson at: (207) 624-6579 Meredith.Mendelson@maine.gov

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cRanBeRRy RepoRt Unpacking a year of Maine history

Day in Maine serveseating up daily nuggets ing,This painting lines, , and B throwing rocks elow are just a few of the entries from early August featured in This Day in Maine by Joseph Owen, published by Islandport Press in cooperation with the Portland Press Herald. It’s a fascinating collection that earns a place on a nightstand or beside a favorite chair for those who love our state and its rich history.

down, islanders mix prep work and gatherings

sford. izzas, busier e the ason. ortuiends rip to g was re so u did quesber at e submeetfloor!) e and h our Maine. oal of nsidn, but virustime to it. I can

paint, “time e and

AUG. 1, 1931: bright red with a black stripe) and, like piece of purple rope to the end of the Commercial air passenger service in Portland. every other lobster fisherman in Maine begins buoy line or toggle, but all attachments must be with a splice or a tuck. this winter, he read about, about, service The first commercial airtalked passenger at made Stroudwater Airport—now I know it’s a stretch to compare foland experimented with purple paint. Portland International Jetport—began with a Boston-Maine flight from Boston. lowing Maine whale rope requireThe latest whale regulations require Boston-Maine was one of two carriers to start serving Maine that day. Its flights with Rockland, a plein airand workshop, all Maine fishermen to succession use new ments left Bostonlobster and landed in quick in Portland, Bangor. but markings on thesaid ropes theyoperate attach two to round-trip a person could home eiThe company it will flightsreturn daily on thatfrom route, lobster Depending on how ther and and say that they’d been paintwith antraps. additional round trip onlyclose between Boston Portland. ing in their spare time. IfanBruce were toThe shore theycompany fish, they will have to add Airways, other is Pan-American which operates internaan essay on howand he spent his 2-4 purple marksBoston on each buoy line. tional run from to Calais; Saint writing John, New Brunswick; Halifax, winter vacation, painting would be a On warps that are 100-feet or less there Nova Scotia. part of it. Another part would be the must be one 12-inch purple mark withThe Portland Press Herald describes the emergence of the services as “marking description I heard in him tell his brother in a greatest few fathoms trap and aof36-passenger the eventofinthethe history railroading New England, ” Mark about get doughnuts, inch purple withina 221st fathoms of vantage which seemsmark odd from century point;walking but the to paper explained the buoy. If the warpAirways is longerwas thata100 in February, ourand sonMaine Robin,and and that Boston-Maine subsidiary of the with Boston feet, the requirement is for a 12-inch our grandchildren Henry and Cora. I Maine Central railroads. purple trap, a second was awaytoday. with friends in Portland, and Nonemark of near thosethecompanies is 12in business Ironically, however, Stephanie was away Transportation with friends in inch purple mark halfway the as buoy, Pan-American collapsed into 1991 a business; in 1998 Guilford and a 36-inch mark and son its wererail in charge. Industries bought the near rightstheto buoy. use theFlorida. name Father and renamed assets “Yeah, we got doughnuts at The Bruce figures he will be putting 1,500 Pan-American Railways. to 1,800 markings on his rope in all; two Cookie Jar and then walked to the AUG. 1924:of extra work if he does beach for a picnic and to throw rocks.” to three3,weeks The Hillcrest, hotel of onfishChebeague destroyed by fire.and EatingIsland, homemade donuts it without hiringsummer help. A number ermen are applying paint to discarded their ropescigarette throwing at thethe beach—if Fire caused by a carelessly buttrocks consumes Hillcrest,that a a mirror image of three manyguests childby restinghotel them 3-foot long gutters summer oninChebeague Island, and isn’t nearby buildings, killing madeinjuring from lengthwise-halved pipe. hood summers on Islesford, I don’t and others. The fire PVC also burned up a neighboring dance hall and two know what is. Bruce’s first attempt was with spray paint q residences, one of which was being used as a hotel annex, as well as the personal but he soonofmoved the more effibelongings abouton 90to guests. cient brush and latex paint. Barbaraand Fernald lives on Islesford Several women are reported to have fainted, guests tried to enter(Little the Some hotel fishermen will add a 3-foot Island) with her husband Bruce. burning to fetch their property fromCranberry their rooms. Cyril York, who lives on

the island in Casco Bay, suffered burns on his hands and face when he put out flames on the burning clothing of a man jumping from a second-story window. The jumping man, John A. Cady Jr., died of injuries that night in a hospital. The cigarette butt was thrown under the front steps leading to the hotel’s front door. The Hillcrest was a popular tourist getaway spot in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its burning is the worst fire in the island’s history. Afterward, a new hotel was built to replace it. Called the Chebeague Island Inn, that hotel is still in business.

AUG. 4, 1914: The North German Lloyd ocean liner SS Kronprinzessin Cecile, headed from New York to Plymouth, England, diverted to Bar Harbor.

The great ocean liner arrived at 6 in the morning in a town that usually sees nothing but small coastal ships. The captain was approaching England when he learned that World War I had begun. He reversed course, lest the British or the French confiscate the German vessel. The crew turned the ship—carrying 1,216 passengers and more than $13 million worth of gold and silver—and headed for the closest port in thenneutral American, which was Bar Harbor. On Nov. 7 the ship was moved to Boston while civil lawsuits were resolved in federal court. In 1917 the United States, having declared war on Germany, commandeered the ship, renamed it the USS Mount Vernon and used it as a troop transport ship. A German submarine torpedoed the ship on Sept. 5, 1918, killing dozens of sailors and injuring others, but failing to sink the Mount Vernon, which was repaired. It eventually was scrapped in 1940.

AUG. 6, 1899: Slip collapses at Hancock Point; at least 20 dead, 50 injured.

At least 20 people drowned and more than 50 were injured at Hancock Point when a moveable slip leading to a steamship collapsed, dropping about 200 boarding passengers 15 feet into the ocean. The people in the water were hemmed in on three sides by dock pilings and on the fourth by the steamer, and mass panic ensued. Most of the victims were from Eastern Maine. When the accident happened, the steamer Sappho was waiting to carry the passengers on a Sunday evening excursion to Bar Harbor, eight miles away on Mount Desert Island. Many of the travelers were trying to go to the island to see the warships of the Navy’s North Atlantic squadron, which were at anchor off Bar Harbor. A train that rolled onto the wharf has just delivered hundreds of people a few steps from where they would board the steamer.

‘GHOST’ TRAPS

continued from page 1

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on shore without any cost to often-retired fishermen. Regional landfills charge from $1 to $2 per stripped-down trap. Scott’s project also focuses on locating and salvaging underwater ghost trap gear. For many years now, Scott has been the director of Oceans Wide, a non-profit that encourages young people ages 12 to 20-something to embrace careers in marine biology and marine technology through live-in summer camps, most recently based in Winter Harbor within the former U.S. Navy housing and classrooms at the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park. One priority of Oceans Wide’s curricula is SCUBA instruction, which results in basic, advanced, rescue, and dive master certifications. Students also perfect the hands-on skills required to navigate underwater robotic technology. These remote-controlled mini-submarines are used to locate sea-floor ghost gear as a first step in salvaging it for recycling. These remotely operated vehicles—called ROVs—can locate ghost gear and mark its location through GPS, and then return to attach a line used to pull the trap to the surface for recycling. Scott and his education director Matt Louis have engineered and fabricated a pneumatic device that crushes skeleton traps for efficient recycling. Steel recyclers pay between $20 and $30 a ton for the traps, the equivalent of 100 traps. The revenue generated is used to pay high school-age workers to tear down and crush the traps, jobs that pay $11 an hour. Students and recent alumni of Sumner High School in Sullivan, Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, and Deer Isle-Stonington High School are now involved, including many who are the sons and daughters of Maine coast lobstermen. Scott has plans to expand his recycling in Gouldsboro, as well as in Jonesport, Stonington, and Vinalhaven. Financial supporters to date include Machias Savings Bank, the Schoodic Community Fund, the town of Gouldsboro, members of the Winter Harbor and Corea lobster co-ops, and a growing list of individual and anonymous donors, many of them lobstermen. “Our vision is to have these trap recycling centers all along the coastline,” Scott said. “Not only do they benefit the health of seafloor ecosystems, but they provide meaningful work for the students who become involved.”

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

Portland Fish Exchange manager reflects on strategies, struggles

Bert Jongerden retiring after seeing exchange evolve and modernize By Laurie Schreiber

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future of the groundfish industry, but it had to innovate and tighten its belt to stay in business. First, he aimed to reestablish good will with hen Bert Jongerden took a job as smaller boats. operations manager at the Portland “I had a feeling that our model would be based Fish Exchange in 1991, the quasion small boats going forward,” he said. “Because I’d municipal nonprofit auction house handled 30 worked here in the past, I knew a lot of the boats and million pounds of fish that year. scenic character, and the water quality, orgoing other ByJongerden Tom Groening owners. It was just air getting conversations stayed five years, then moved on to naturalworking resources in the thesee turbine. again, with the area boatsof to what their other endeavors. In 2007, when he returned to A project alsomake must adjustments conform to the federal Natural he perception that Maine’soperations forays intohad off- needs were and accordingly. ” the exchange as general manager, Act, Livesayfrom said,theand not shore wind power have been on hold aren’t Resources In 2008, heProtection oversaw the transition tradideclined to 8.4 million pounds. “unreasonably interfere” with recreation or naviquite accurate, said Jake Ward of the tional “outcry” auction to an internet platform. His job? Find ways to sustain the institution or marine fisheries. University Maine. Under the name New England gation, or harm estuarine The platform had mostly beenA through a of dramatically altered developer also must provide a navigation plan, Aqua Ventus I, the university is pursuing siting a completed before he arrived,a fishing environment. His a removal flinitiatives oating wind turbine off Monhegan Island as a fish and wildlife plan, but and it was a matterplan. of getting included working to Brian Hooker ofthe thecomputers Bureau of and Ocean Energy test forback possible development. networks entice boatsfurther that had fled outlined role in this morning said this is coming fast,” Management (BOEM) hooked up the andfederal educating to“Someone Massachusetts ports, estabjurisdiction lies in the waters Ward of the university’s bid, speaking at a ses- offshore wind. BOEM’s buyers, he explained. lish ansaid internet-based auction off state land. The multision of the Maine The auction is based on platform, and Fishermen’s repurposeForum in Rockport that are three to 200 miles phased, multi-year approval process includes on March 5. In fact, he has been involved in the warehouse management surplus space to lease for new planning and analysis, assessments waters and pursuit offshore wind system software of that guides income of streams. He’s alsopower been since 2007. wind potential, and construction and operation. “Th is is not coming fast,” he deadpanned. “I had inventory disposition and involved in fisheries manageBOEM is reviewing thelots Vineyard project kids this started. Now I have grandkids.” creates that areWind transferred ment,when serving on various said a final decision Several panels, years ago, UMaine intoHooker an auctioneer program. advisory boards, and had pursued—as in Massachusetts, and end of no thelonger year. Th e National Maine Aqua Ventus—siting two floating wind is expected by theBuyers have to be commissions. the review turbines off Monhegan to learn more about the Marine Fisheries Service on-siteistopart bid;of instead, they prolog After 13 years as general on athe taskprogram force thatdisplays includes flmanager, oating technology the to potential to produce cess and is represented in and Jongerden and plans New Hampshire, and electricity. thatofend, a one-eighth sized floating representatives from fishMaine, organized by species and retire at theToend 2020. But Massachusetts. turbine was deployed off Castine in 2013, and has market grade. with 40 years overall in the Annie Hawkins of“It’s Responsible Offshore since been retrieved. based closely onDevelthe seafood business, he maintains Bert Jongerden plans to retire as opment Alliance, a Washington D.C.-based adsaid the project is now operating as New call-out auction,” he explained. theWard long view. general manager of the Portland Fish protect fishery interests England Ventus, and “Thatto was done on purpose “There’sAqua a realization that,isifseeking to site a sin- vocacy group formed after the 13 years. in offshore wind development, said her gle, 6-megawatt floating turbine. Exchange Late last year, so there wouldn’t begroup such ina the exchange closed, an imporPHOTO COURTESY JONGERDEN cludes 170 members. federal Department of Energy awarded theBERT projlearning curve.” tant piece of infrastructure Regulators must consider fishing interests, she ect $1.4bemillion forsaid. design, The electronic auction would lost,” he “It’s and in the Maine Public said, and “We don’t feel that’s been done very well Utilities Commission voted to approve a 20-year reinvigorated the buyer base. At one time, large the interest of the state and local economy to keep to date.” Developers useinaPortland. “divide and conquer” agreement for Central Maine Power to on purchase wholesalers kept buyers this place moving. A lot of people depend it.” approach, separating states projects to weakelectricity generated by the turbine. “But once volume startedand winding down, the Born in Eemnes, Netherlands, Jongerden moved en opposition. shore wind is the largest untapped energy big companies couldn’t justify keeping employees toOff Portland with his parents in 1960. Graduating “We’re trying to take the dialogue back,” resource far,” Ward said. Heheexplained here, ” he said. “So there was strong demand to get from the “by University of Maine, got into how the Hawkins said.auction up and running. When that the floatingbusiness, turbine eventually structure will usespace pre-cast the electronic restaurant leasing in Fred Mattera, fished for 40 years concrete segments. happened, therewho washas renewed interest. ” from Port Scarborough to open his own eatery. Five years fishermen to document where “We’re confident it will survive” in the ma- Judith, To findR.I., newurged sources of income, surplus space in later, he’dvery had enough. they work now to make the case for mitigation rine environment, he said. “Anything happening the 30,000-square-foot building on Commercialif “It’s a lot of work,” he said. they arewas displaced turbines. inHis the Gulf of Maine is going to be fl oating.” Street leasedbytowind other seafood tenants. seafood career in sales and produc“You must stay engaged,” he said. Still, permitting remains to be secured. Fishing Additional cash was raised by warehousing tion began in the 1980s at Hobson’s Wharf in Beth bait Casoni, director seafood of the not Massachusetts interests included in weighing proposals, lobster and handling suited for Portland.will The be exchange opened that decade as the Lobstermen’s Association, echoed that view, sayregulators said, but fishing advocates those sale by auction. nation’s first all-display fresh seafood urged auction. It ing during publicclose review, present to be vigilant. In“comments 2019, the matter” exchange managed to cit3 transformed a haphazard marketplace, where ing a project areaofoff thefrom Bay State was reduced Nick Livesay of the state Department of Envimillion pounds fish 40 to that 50 boats and is fishermen scrambled to negotiate sales with by 65 percent because articulatedoperations. concerns. It ronmental Protection saidperishable the project off Monheproviding services for of aquaculture wholesale buyers before catches went Th is spring, UMaine’s Ward said, project gan will fall under state jurisdiction. Th e site locarecently unloaded a hundred thousand the pounds of bad, and placed the catches in a refrigerated warewill hire a fi sheries liaison. tion law would hold sway, he said, which ensures farmed kelp and is now grading farmed oysters. house for inspection and then noontime auctions. there will to bethe nofishermen adverse eff ect guaranteed. on existing uses, “We just keep trying to find new markets and Payments were new ways to offer ourselves up,” he said. When Jongerden signed on as operations The pandemic set unprecedented challenges manager in 1991, the exchange had solidified when landings tumbled. Demand and prices have Portland’s role as the No. 1 East Coast port for since improved somewhat. groundfish, employing close to 65 people, and Still, “For us and a lot of businesses on the capturing most Maine and some southern New waterfront, if we can hunker down and get England groundfish landings from 350 boats. through COVID, that’s all we can expect,” he Jongerden moved on to other endeavors, said. “I think there will be a fundamental shift in including work for Prospect Harbor’s Stinson the way seafood is consumed, now and into the Seafood; Lewiston hardware and building mateAccording for OccupaBy Curtis future. Retail to willthe beNational a big partInstitute of it because more rialsWanda company Emery Waterhouse; and Hannaford. tional Safety and Health, commercial shinghomes. is one of people are consuming seafood in fitheir Meanwhile, groundfish stocks were declining. the most dangerous occupations the U.S. data he Maine Coast back Fishermen’s Association Restaurants won’t come back theinway theyIts were. Regulators began cutting on fishing time and showswill thatbe commercial fishermen experienced a fawon consolidated a $5,000 grant to apromote mental There a lot of interest in boat-to-consumer catches.has Fishing into fleet of mainly tality rate of 114 equivahealththat awareness in the commercial fish- sales. We’ve got deaths to see per how100,000 we canfull-time fit in here, in larger boats could operate further offshore. lent workers between 2000 and 2017. Th at compares ing industry. the best manner possible.” Some smaller boats moved to Massachusetts ports to toThe an average of four deaths per 100,000 full-time Coombs, marine programs exchange’s board of directors has begun a beMonique closer to the fishingdirector grounds;ofothers were sold or equivalents all U.S.who workers. for the nonprofi said the fundsand willvessel be used to de- search for aamong new leader, will be tasked with scrapped. By thet,2000s, landings numbers Common to hazards vessel disasters, overvelop to assist commercial continuing bringinclude new opportunities tofalls benefit at the informational exchange were materials dropping dramatically. board, and a variety of onboard gear and equipment fishermen in managing and depres- commercial fishermen and Maine’s emerging . Jongerden returned instress, 2007anxiety, to a new environCoombs said fishing is a very isolating industry, sion, wellexchange as materials showinga how to staytomenaquaculture industry. ment.asThe remained linchpin the tally fit. A website with phone numbers for fisher- with some fishermen out on the water and away from men to reach out for help may also be in the works. families for days at a time, which adds to stress. “Depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide The grant was awarded by the Fisher Charitable Trust. Coombs said fishermen may be experiencing are not uncommon in any fishing community, no stress due to changes in the industry over which matter which coast you are on,” said Coombs. “It

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W Regulators, developer explain process to fishermen

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The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Rock Bound

We asked, you answered

Thoughts inspired by our reader survey By Tom Groening I DIDN’T COIN the phrase, but I wholeheartedly endorse its wisdom: If you’re not having fun editing a newspaper, you’re doing it wrong. It’s been great fun for me to edit The Working Waterfront these last seven-plus years. One of the joys, after working at weekly and daily newspapers, is that, as a ten-times-a-year publication, we can cherry pick from all that is happening on Maine’s rich and colorful coast and islands. We’re liberated from the incremental nature of developing stories, and instead we can swoop in to sum up a percolating issue or trend. The other side of the coin, though, is trying to choose from the sheer volume of interesting stories we might pursue. It’s like arriving at a free all-you-caneat buffet right after eating a big meal. Which stories to feature is an important question to consider. A few years ago, in conversation with some Island Institute staff and a board member, we arrived at some topics to guide us: the people of the coast and islands doing interesting things; the economy, especially as it relates to the ocean; the environment; tourism; the arts; and our vibrant downtowns.

We don’t want to be cheerleaders, but we begin our work recognizing that the Maine coast is a wonderful place to live. We aim to have a cleareyed view of its assets and threats, its successes and failures. And the “we” I employ here is not a rhetorical device. The Working Waterfront relies on a group of firstrate freelance writers, photographers, and columnists. Their availability may speak to the fiscal challenges for-profit journalism faces, but I do not take their contributions lightly. In fact, if you worked with me, you’d hear me bragging about them and their work pretty regularly. Almost a year ago now, we surveyed you folks, both in print and online, on what you thought of this newspaper. Almost 200 of you tore out and completed the survey page and mailed it to me. Another 400 or so completed the survey online. Thank you! Some of the highlights include: • More than 40 percent have read it ten years or more • About 32 percent live in the Midcoast, about 20 percent in Southern Maine, about 18 percent live Downeast, and

30 percent live year-round out of state • You want coverage of island issues (90 percent), coastal communities (87 percent), the environment (80 percent), land use issues (74 percent), and fishing (67 percent). • Some 50 percent to 80 percent regularly read our columnists • More than 90 percent rate our writing as good to excellent • 8 7 percent rate our photography as good to excellent One of the biggest takeaways from the survey was what you’d like to see more of—local news (55 percent) and big-picture, overview stories (51 percent). Ideally, I’d like to feature a big-picture “cover story” in each issue, with shorter stories, columns, and book reviews inside. I hesitate to compare our modest paper to the late, great Maine Times, but our former editor, Dave Platt, went from that statewide weekly to this monthly, so maybe that paper’s template is embedded in The Working Waterfront.

Which leads back to my “if it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right” maxim—since the pandemic hit in mid-March, we’ve not been able to hit our stride. I had written a big-picture profile of Biddeford in the FebruaryMarch issue, and planned to continue north through four other coastal towns facing identity challenges (the names remain secret), but the virus derailed that plan—for now. By necessity, much of our content these last months has been guest columns and essays, and I don’t regret choosing these pieces. I think thoughtful, reflective writing about our corner of the world has been the right thing to serve up. Still, I hope we can get out and about again, and meet with the folks working to keep our coast and islands the treasures they are. Please keep reading, and stay in touch. If you’re willing to let us publish your thoughts on the above, put “Reader” in the subject line of an email. I’m at tgroening@islandinstitute.org. Tom Groening is editor of The Working Waterfront.

Reflections

Little island leaps lead to bigger steps Island Fellow leaves one island for another Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront.

By Dan Debord FROM WHARF TO BOAT, boat to wharf, rinse, recycle, and repeat. Each island trip requires this momentary leap of faith. Trusting in that short span of wood, metal, or (occasionally) air serving as conduit between wharf and boat, trusting in the boat captain to get you where you’re going safely, and trusting in yourself that you’ll know what to do once you’re there. Almost two years ago, I took my first little island leap when I packed up my truck in my home state of Virginia, drove up the coast to Port Clyde, and hopped on the early morning ferry to Monhegan. On that day, I was a couple months away from college graduation, a couple days out from the passing of a dear

friend, and feeling entirely uncertain about the world and my role in it. I wasn’t necessarily expecting an experience that would clarify all life’s questions when I moved here to be Monhegan’s Island Fellow, but at the very least I was hoping for an interesting, fulfilling job in a beautiful place for two years. Since then, I think I’ve learned more about myself and the world around me than I did in my previous 22 years combined. I now know more about community broadband, municipal operations, and grant writing than most people would ever care to. I’ve learned how to bake some tasty treats, read voraciously, and otherwise self-entertain when the island population hits its lowest point in mid-winter. I’ve learned that it’s the quality, not quantity, of relationships that’ll sustain you. And most importantly, I’ve learned that there’s a lot that I still can, want, and need to learn in pursuit of becoming the person I hope to be with the positive impact on the world I hope to have.

As my Monhegan fellowship comes to a close, I’m preparing to take another little island leap, moving a bit further Downeast to live yearround on Frenchboro—my introduction to islands and the coast of Maine. Although I spent many happy weeks of my childhood with family on Frenchboro, as I quickly learned on Monhegan, two weeks in the summer is only a small part of the full picture of island life. In some ways, I’m starting with plenty of background experience. In many ways, I’m starting from scratch. A perfect position from which to grow. So, despite taking this leap at yet another uncertain time—this one global and not just personal—I’m excited for it. Not many people are lucky enough to live on an island in their lifetime, much less two islands in three years. I’m leaving behind a stable fellowship position and many people and places on Monhegan that I’ve come to love over the past couple of years. But I’m looking forward to more time working with the seasons instead of

spending each workday in front of a computer. I’m excited to live in proximity to family, excited for the opportunity to make new friends, excited to finally plant my own garden, and excited to live in the same house year-round. I hope that I will continue to take these little leaps, as needed, in search of the best life has to offer and the best of myself I have to offer in return. If you’re reading this, I hope you continue to take your own little leaps as well. Dan Debord has been a Louis W. Cabot Fellow working with the Monhegan community to bring highspeed broadband access to the island. Originally from Virginia, he has spent summers on Frenchboro. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics and history and a minor in religious studies.

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

HIGH BUT NOT DRY— This photo by Neal Parent of the Parent Gallery in Belfast shows the John Wanamaker tug floating on a high-tide at Sharp’s Wharf in Camden Harbor many years ago. Capt. Sharp’s two vessels, the schooners Roseway and Adventure sit just off the stern of the tug. “I remember having drinks on the fantail and dinner near the shinedup steam engine on board,” Parent said. “She was really a beauty. I remember this storm, too! Saw her in Boston Harbor years later, and she was at the dock in Portsmouth when I moved down there. Sorry to hear she was eventually scrapped.”

Op-Ed

Remembering the lessons of slave ship Amistad Ship is a symbol of what was, and what might be By Peter Neill L’Amistad, ironically Spanish for “friendship,” was a 19th century schooner engaged in the slave trade, transporting human cargo, Mende people, from Sierra Leone to Cuba for work on the Spanish-owned sugar plantations. In 1839, with 53 slaves aboard, those imprisoned passengers revolted, under the leadership of Singbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque, taking command of the ship, killing the captain, with the intent to return to Africa. However, the owners, aboard, set course north up the Atlantic coast of the U.S., hopefully to be captured there and returned to Cuba. The ship was taken by a U.S. revenue cutter off Montauk, Long Island, New York; the slaves nonetheless escaped but were retaken on land and placed in prison in New Haven, Conn., and tried on charges of murder and piracy. The ensuing legal battle focused both on property and its return to owners in Cuba, and charges against those owners for the illegal enslavement of Africans. The case was known as The United States vs The Amistad (1841) and found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the Mende prevailed, exonerated for having rebelled in self-defense, and were restored their freedom. Forty-three returned to Africa in 1842, aided by the United Missionary Society, led by James W.C. Pennington, a Congregationalist minister and former fugitive slave, active in the abolitionist movement. The Amistad incident became a rallying cry for emancipation and justice in the fight against slavery worldwide. In that spirit, over 150 years later, a replica of L’Amistad was constructed, a modern vessel intended Island Institute Board of Trustees

Emily B. Lane, Chair Tom Tinsley Vice Chair Charles Owen Verrill, Jr. Secretary Douglas Henderson, Treasurer, Finance Chair Donna Wiegle, Programs Chair Kristin Howard, Philanthropy Chair Bryan Lewis, Governance Chair Michael P. Boyd, Clerk Sebastian Belle Shey Conover David Cousens Megan McGinnis Dayton Michael Felton Nathan Johnson Michael Sant Barbara Kinney Sweet Katherine Vogt Carol White John Bird (honorary) Louis W. Cabot (honorary)

to sail as an evocation of that history, its memorialization, and its educational potential to continue an international conversation about slavery and its subsequent impact on African-Americans, past, present and future. Funds were raised, much of it from black church organizations, and voyaging commenced to port cities in the name of public outreach and celebration of African culture. Under the direction of a non-profit, Amistad America, the schooner made extensive passage along the Atlantic coasts and an astonishing return to England and then to Sierra Leone in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain in 1807, during which the crew broadcast live to the United Nations General Assembly from a point at sea halfway along the route called the “middle passage.” To my thinking, that single event linking the iconic ship and crew to the global community was the single most dramatic moment in what thereafter became a second part of the tragedy, with the ensuing confusion over finance, governance, and viability of the original intent, and decline as a vital symbol and tool for the ongoing discussion of slavery and its consequence in the U.S. The ship now resides at the Mystic Seaport Museum, where she was built, and now presumably as an educational exhibit, voyaging future unknown. Initially, the Amistad and its inaugural voyages captured the imagination of African-Americans, and events at first ports of call were enthusiastically promoted and attended by the community as a celebration and educational impetus for discussion and remembrance.

Why the ensuing decline is a complicated story, but one underlying element is the uncertainty of management and finance more and more reliant on government and philanthropy that had interests and agendas other than slavery and its relevance to other suddenly more pressing interests. Even some in the African-American community objected and did not participate, viewing Amistad as counter-symbolic to improvement of race relations and integration, indeed an evocation of a history willfully to be forgotten. All of us, regardless of origin or history, require icons upon which to focus our memories and our aspirations. As we are challenged to face issues of race in the U.S., Amistad retains its meaning as “friendship,” and remains a powerful tool, not just of its particular event in its particular time, but more importantly as a symbol for freedom, for justice, for equality, and for integrated understanding of how to succeed as a community of “we, the people.” What if Amistad could re-launch as a symbol of reparation, “the making of amends,” around which all Americans might gather to discuss why and how we might resolve what separates us on a voyage of rebuilding and renewal? With all the skills and collaboration required to sail a ship, with the specific navigational way points required to get successfully to a new destination. Peace and justice for all. Peter Neill is the director of the World Ocean Observatory, which produces weekly radio essays that can be heard on WERU-FM, 89.9, and at www. worldoceanobservatory.org/world-ocean-radio. He lives in Sedgwick.

THE WORKING WATERFRONT

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The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Climate change threatens Wabanaki livelihood, culture Relying on land and sea exacerbates impacts, expert says By Laurie Schreiber

limate change is having a serious impact on the Wabanaki Tribal Nations, threatening livelihoods, cultures, and self-determination. That was the message from Darren Ranco, a University of Maine professor who gave a July 10 webinar presentation called “Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and the Wabanaki Tribal Nations,” hosted by Augustabased Maine Conservation Voters. Ranco examined current and future climate change impacts to the Wabanaki and their climate adaptation priorities and activism. The Wabanaki comprise the Aroostook Band of Micmac, Houlton Band of Maliseet, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation. Ranco said the Wabanaki are among the groups of people who are more impacted by climate change, due, in part, to uneven climate mitigation and adaptation policies on the part of governments. “We’re not on a path to climate justice,” he said. Climate change is threatening indigenous livelihoods such as agriculture, hunting and gathering, fishing, forestry, energy, recreation, and tourism, he said. As a result, it’s also threatening physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Indigenous life, he said, is based on interconnected social and ecological systems that are being disrupted by changing climate. Because indigenous people, by and large, live close to the land, those impacts will be dramatic, he said. Successful adaptation and disaster management, in the indigenous context, relies on indigenous knowledge and community-led relations, he explained. But that’s hampered by barriers that include limited access

to traditional territory and resources. Additionally, a history of colonial policies prevents indigenous people from practicing self-determination. Ranco said he and others are looking at the concept of “adaptive resilience,” which considers adaptations based on social and cultural systems. Identifying community assets will be key to bolstering adaptation. Climate threats across Wabanaki Tribal Nations include increases of temperature, winter ticks, invasive species, precipitation, and erosion; and potential loss of moose and other culturally important species, leading to losses of food, hunting activities, and culture. The circumstances are inter-related. For example, he explained, moose are experiencing greater mortality due to the increased prevalence of winter ticks, which is related to rising temperature. Rising water temperature is impacting fish species and forest practices. As temperatures warm in Maine, the range of brown ash trees is moving north, making it difficult to maintain stock for basket-making. Ranco said his work on Wabanaki climate change priorities and adaption planning was funded by a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs grant secured by the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point/Sipayik, which has emerged as a leader among Maine tribes in developing climate adaptation strategies. Sipayik is near Eastport, where sea level rise, combined with the bay’s dramatic tidal zone, is threatening infrastructure. Since 2012, he noted, the tribe has been working with federal planners to develop hazard mitigation strategies in response to climate impacts to community infrastructure. However, impact mitigation is not limited to single communities, he said. The Wabanaki work

collectively across traditional territories, including Canada. That’s important to how the work process is framed, he said, because it ensures that everyone is included in understanding problems and identifying potential solutions. Overall, he said, climate justice must be oriented toward Wabanaki adaptation policies. That goal is part of an overall effort to restore tribal sovereignty in Maine. Toward that end, the four tribes in June formed the Wabanaki Alliance, whose first initiative is to advocate for passage of LD 2094 “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act.” The act is designed to correct policies of the 1980 Maine Indian Claim Settlement Act that stripped the tribes of sovereignty. The Wabanaki face other environmental hazards not related to climate change. For example, a longstanding issue is related to mercury pollution on the lower Penobscot River. Although a Penobscot River restoration project removed two major dams, the toxic waste has put the increasing population of anadromous fish at risk as they swim to reservation waters, he said. Ideally, he said, adaptation and mitigation will take into account Wabanaki traditions and management techniques. For example, preferred landscape management uses non-chemical, non-mechanical approaches that are far more sustainable and would see a return and proliferation of certain landscapes and species, Ranco explained. The challenge, he said, is to scale up indigenous approaches through partnerships with each other and with non-indigenous people.

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Report: Aquaculture workforce must grow rapidly GMRI interviewed land- and marine-based businesses

Without a deliberate effort to train and develop these workers, Mainers may not realize the full economic benefit of this expanding industry. “Finding workers with the right skills is a year-after-year challenge for Mook Sea Farm,” said Bill Mook, owner of Mook Sea Farm. After identifying the scale of the workforce needed, the report identifies Maine’s community colleges and career technical education centers as well-prepared to create learning opportunities that meet industry demand. The report specifically recommends the creation of three vocational hubs across the state to provide vocational training specific to aquaculture: Southern Maine Community College in South Portland, the Mid-Coast School of Technology in Rockland, and Washington County Community College in Calais. Among the other recommendations made within the report are: • a Maine Department of Labor-approved aquaculture apprenticeship program • the development of new occupational standards • and marketing support to promote the new learning opportunities. For more on this project, including both the full Maine Aquaculture Workforce Development Strategy report and a Summary Report, please visit: https://www. gmri.org/projects/maine-aquaculture-workforce-development-strategy/.

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report by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute identifies the labor needs of Maine’s growing aquaculture industry and charts a course for the state to establish a comprehensive workforce training system to meet the demand. The report—produced in partnership with the Maine Aquaculture Association and Educate Maine, with support from FocusMaine—captures the findings of a project team that included local partners, industry voices, and a team of outside experts drawn from four Scottish consulting firms. The work drew on extensive interviews with Maine aquaculture businesses, including established and prospective land-based operations, marine producers, service providers, and supply chain companies. “With so many businesses, NGOs, and individuals invested in the responsible growth of this industry, we knew this project needed to be a true collaboration,” said Chris Vonderweidt, GMRI’s aquaculture program manager, who led the 18-month project. “It’s crucial for all of us to understand what workforce development efforts are required to realize the potential for Maine’s coastal economy and working waterfronts.” Maine’s aquaculture industry includes a constellation of largely owner-operator scale shellfish and marine algae farms, mid-sized service providers, and largescale finfish production operations. New production models, such as land-based recirculating aquaculture systems, provide yet another growing employment opportunity in this sector, according to the report. While the needs of these various business models are wide-ranging and variable, one common need emerged from the study: an expanded pool of welltrained workers. Maine’s total aquaculture workforce exceeds 600 direct employees, plus auxiliary services, further trades, transport, processing, equipment supply, and retail employment across the value chain. Based on interviews with existing and prospective business owners, the industry will require an influx of new trained workers in the coming years. By 2022, the aquaculture workforce is projected to include around 880 employees across production and related activities, and over 1,600 across the supply chain. By 2030, the workforce could exceed 1,000 direct employees, and over 2,000 in the total production, supply chain and downstream markets.

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www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

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The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Our Island Communities Peaks Island house a winner for occupants

PHOTOS COURTESY: IRVIN SERRANO

Design and construction earn honors in Fine Homebuilding magazine

By Tom Groening

s far as Judy Walsh is concerned, the house she and her husband Paul Stenzel share on Peaks Island was a winner the day they moved in. But there was an added accolade—Fine Homebuilding magazine named it the “Best New Home of the Year.” The house is open, airy, full of interesting angles and windows that bring in the North Atlantic light, and is essentially “net zero,” meaning it produces as much energy from photovoltaics as it uses. But one element of the house sets it quite apart from any competitors—it maintains humidity levels of 50 percent year-round, and does so without creating unhealthy mold or mildew problems. The humidity, Walsh explains, was essential for her husband’s health, following the removal of his larynx after a cancer diagnosis. “It’s a perfect house for us,” Walsh said in a recent telephone interview. The journey that brought them to the island and this house three years ago began in Maine, led to Washington D.C., then to Buffalo, N.Y., and finally back to Maine. The couple lived in Portland in the 1980s, with Stenzel owning and operating a restaurant, Sebastian’s, in Freeport. In 1991, they moved to D.C. where Walsh

worked as an art conservator at the National Gallery. In 2003, they moved to teach at the state university in Buffalo, he in the culinary arts, she in the art department. “Once we retired, we could go anywhere,” and they decided to return to Maine. Neither had ever been on Peaks Island, but a piece of property on the Back Shore beckoned. It was at the end of gravel road, surrounded by a land preserve, 300 yards from the shore. “We talked to different architects, and we really liked Kaplan Thompson,” she said. “They were committed to energy efficiency and using local materials.” Though the couple had lived in an Arts & Crafts home in Buffalo, they opted for a modern design. Somewhat gleefully, Walsh describes selling much of the contents of their previous home. “We were going to build a 21st century house,” she said, with solar panels, triple-glazed windows, and heat pumps—even a heat pump hot water heater. “Everything is electric,” and in fact, the couple is looking into installing batteries, the next step toward self-sufficiency. “It’s a real nice way to live,” she says. Still, there were design challenges to overcome. “You have to be able to deal with high levels of humidity in what’s essentially an air tight house,” explains architect Phil Kaplan. A whole-house air exchanger was key to letting out dirty air and bringing in fresh, while capturing some of the heat that otherwise would be vented out.

The couple also wanted to use materials that did not consume large amounts of carbon-based fuels in their creation, so that meant far less concrete was used. Half the house sits on piers, Kaplan said, there are few right angles, and the goal was for the living space to feel open and bright, despite being just 1,750square feet. “One of the things I really like,” Kaplan said, “is that from the road, it’s very modest and unassuming.’” Yet on entering, the house reveals “incredible surprises,” in the form of more windows, more light, and higher ceilings. Builder Heather Thompson, of the island-based Thompson Johnson Woodworks, faced “a sloping site, in the woods, down a dirt road.” The house has a double-wall construction, with vertical I-beams attached to the traditional studs, offering secondary bays in which to dense-pack cellulose insulation, she said. “The house isn’t rectangular,” with some angles as slight as 10 degrees. Thompson credits owner, architect, and her firm for the success. “It was a complicated build,” she says, “but the team was extremely collaborative.” But the biggest satisfaction? “Building a house for year-round islanders. That’s the best.” The Walsh-Stenzel house is featured in the April issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine, and at finehomebuilding.com/2020/04/08/science-drives-design.

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

North Haven’s Dave Macy an unlikely spiritual anchor Island pastor works to serve larger community needs By Tom Groening

hakespeare must have been thinking about small-town life when he observed, “All the world’s a stage.” Though the Bard didn’t say so, it does seem some people are better suited to their roles than others. Dave Macy, 67, has been trodding the boards as pastor of North Haven Baptist Church for almost 30 years. Though he seems well-suited to the part—he’s thoughtful, modest, listens attentively, and displays a sly wit—Macy has not exactly been typecast in the part. Originally from Great Barrington, Mass., a small town in the Berkshires, he left home for Ithaca College to study music. A trumpet player, he was aiming for a career in music education. But college came with some distractions. “The drinking age was 18, and so was I,” he says with a smile. The college administration suggested he and they part ways. He was able to transfer to the highly esteemed Berklee School of Music in Boston. “I was enrolled, and occasionally attended classes,” he Dave Macy in the Baptist Church on North Haven. PHOTO: TOM GROENING says. He was focused on jazz, though it was a degree in musical education that he earned at graduation in 1976. His time in Boston saw another milestone. “It’s about letting people talk. It’s listening—practicing our listening skills,” he “I met this girl from an island in Maine.” That girl, nursing student Kathleen explains, and brewery co-owner Ben Lovell co-hosts the weekly gatherings with Stone, has been his wife for 44 years. The couple moved to her hometown of Macy. “Ben and I take turns with conversation starters. There are rules. We’ll North Haven, and Macy got a job at an island boat yard. Eventually, they had two tell you what they are when you break one,” he jokes. “I couldn’t ask for a better sons, Adam and Seth, who live with their wives and children on the coast. co-captain,” he says of Lovell. Music remained a passion, and while singing the high tenor part in a barber“Some nights, we’ll get through all five” of the prompts. “One night, we got shop quartet on the island, a fellow member—then-pastor Stephen Row, whom through two.” Since the pandemic, the Tuesday night gatherings have moved to Macy had recruited for the group—suggested he consider another career. Zoom (see North Haven Pub Theology Facebook page to learn how to join in). “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Have you considered going to seminary?’” “You’re going to get to know each other, and that’s important to me. To get to It wasn’t completely out of left field. know your neighbor and yourself,” he says. “I was very active in the church growing up,” Macy said, in what was a Universalist Music is still central in his life, as Macy plays in pit orchestras at island shows, Unitarian congregation, and his father had been an interim pastor. And so he and even sits in with middle school band. agreed to attend an informational conference at Bangor Theological Seminary, “I’m glad I don’t have a degree in music—I can enjoy the music,” he says. concluding, “Well, I owe him that much,” since Row had agreed to join the singing Perhaps surprisingly, Macy considers himself an introvert, and has to nudge group. The conference left him with questions “still percolating in my brain.” himself to visit folks at home. Pitching in on island theater is a way to engage, he He enrolled in 1981, and was pleased to find the college wasn’t “a monastery says. Yet he also credits more quiet time, the result of the pandemic, with helping him on a hill,” but rather an engaging, lively school. He graduated in 1986, two-thirds craft what he hopes are well-considered 15-minute sermons, which he shares online. of the way through the master’s program, and took a pastorate in East Machias, As Macy approaches the 30th anniversary of his ordination, he is thinking about where he served until 1991; the master’s degree was completed in 1988. retirement, and hopes the church will continue as a vital part of North Haven community life.

THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN

Macy jokes that his life seemed to roll out in five year increments—five years on the island at the boat yard, five in Bangor, five in East Machias. That cadence ended with the appointment to North Haven’s Baptist church. The building and the congregation have their own mixed pedigree. Though affiliated with the American Baptist Association, the church was built as an Episcopal sanctuary for summer services, with work beginning in August of 1922 with a budget of $15,000. It’s a beautifully designed structure, a bit larger than what might be described as a chapel, yet intimate with an atmosphere conducive to quiet reflection. The Baptist congregation actually has a building on the island at Pulpit Harbor, away from the village center, and it meets there in the summer when the Episcopal group uses the church building in the village. The two congregations hold joint services twice, in July and August. Macy describes his theology as “to the left of moderate. I try to be biblically correct as I was taught in seminary,” but that’s tempered by working to respect the range of individual beliefs. “We brand ourselves as ecumenical. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, you’re welcome here.” The church uses what Macy calls a “parish model,” that has him as a chaplain to the community at large, “a missionary to North Haven.” That principle has translated to working with both the church’s and community’s food pantries, which, he notes, have seen increased use since the pandemic. It means directing funds from the Pulpit Harbor Foundation to community medical needs—LifeFlight evacuations, prescriptions, and bills for care. Macy also is a founding member of Southern Harbor House, the island’s eldercare facility. This approach had Macy joining the island ambulance crew, which provides “the opportunity to be there for people in times of need.” And, beginning three years ago, Macy adopted a way to broach spiritual and philosophical subjects, and explore civil discourse, with the community in what’s known as “pub theology.” The ritual began in the Midwest, he says, and on the island, it took the form of folks gathering at North Haven Brewing Company.

Islander voices “Some communities are lucky enough to have one person who seems to get along with everyone and whom everyone loves. Here, it’s Dave. Dave wears many, many hats. The thing is, he makes every single one of them look great.” —Lisa Shields “Dave is a spiritual anchor in this community. He is the familiar comforting hand when we are dealing with a tragic loss or the officiant whose quick joke has a whole wedding party in stitches. “In the past few years, he has been moderating pub theology every Tuesday night. He describes it as an exercise in listening and civil discourse. In many ways it’s a reflection of his own empathy, intellectual curiosity, and love of gathering people together in community.” —Ben Lovell “Dave is a performer, and he brings his musical and theatrical abilities to bear in and out of the church. He’s gregarious and kind, and was one of the first people to befriend Bill and I when we moved here. “In the church, he’s created a joyful space that feels welcoming to all, even those of us who aren’t Christian. Through the church discretionary fund, food pantry, his work with Southern Harbor House, and his role as host of Waterman’s Thursday morning coffee hour, he supports the community and finds ways to bring us together, even virtually.” —Courtney Naliboff

The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Unearthing New England’s role in the slave trade One woman’s discovery of a gravestone led to history project By Cortney Simmons

he happenstance discovery of a gravestone in her hometown of Brewster, Mass., led Dr. Meadow Dibble to launch a public history initiative devoted to researching and reckoning with New England’s role in the slave trade. In a recent Maine Conservation Voters “lunch and learn” series online, Dibble recounted growing up in the town on Cape Cod Bay, and then returning there and learning about her hometown’s participation in the transatlantic slave trade. Brewster had long been dedicated to seafaring, with residents working as fishermen and whalers. Today, locals not only honor that seafaring heritage, but they have dedicated resources to archiving the tradition’s stories, which have been told for generations. Dibble’s childhood memories of this place include images of her father working as the storekeeper at the Brewster General Store. In school, she learned about the Civil War, and New England as a sanctuary of abolitionism. “We who hail from New England were brought up believing that this region was a bastion of democratic ideals, a hotbed of abolitionism. And of course, much of that is true,” Dibble said. “These are the stories we tell, but they’re very selective.” A few years ago, on a walk through a cemetery with her daughters in her cherished hometown, she stumbled upon a headstone unlike any she had seen before: “Benjamin Crosby Died in Africa 1795” were the words engraved. Why had this young man from Brewster sailed to Africa? She visited the library and consulted the local librarian, but found no information about Cape Cod’s involvement in the slave trade. With no answers, she headed back to the cemetery. Several more names of those who had died in Africa appeared on gravestones. What’s more, there were several more headstones of men who died in the West Indies and Cuba during the 19th century. These graves were of fishermen and whalers, so why were these men going to the Caribbean? “Of course, if you bother to ask yourself what was in fact happening in the Caribbean over the course of three centuries, then if you’re a rational individual, whether you have a PhD or a GRE, you can start to put two and two together,” she said. “It’s something we don’t talk about it.” British colonists had established a trade route that enabled sugar to be imported from the British West

Indies to the northern colonies. The Caribbean islands became sole producers of the commodity, while New England produced food and tools for the sugar production, allowing the Northeast’s economic ascent during the 18th and 19th centuries. And if that were not enough to disqualify New Englanders claiming the moral high ground, Dibble suggested more complicity was likely. “If Cape Codders clearly had no moral qualms about supplying those West Indian plantations with the salted herring that would feed the enslaved African laborers of the Caribbean,” she asked, “or the grains that they would consume, or the hardware that they would use to till the fields, or the livestock that would run the plantations, how likely is it that Cape Coders or New Englanders drew the line at importing slaves?” Would these seafaring Cape Codders have left the highly profitable commerce to their neighbors in Rhode Island or in Maine, on moral grounds? Dibble discovered that routine slaving voyages had been orchestrated by Boston merchants, and from ports in Newburyport, Gloucester, Salem, Bristol, Newport, New Bedford, as well as in Portsmouth, N.H., and Mystic, Conn., and New York. And slave trading also was based in Maine coastal ports, including Brunswick, Bath, and Portland. In fact, there was complicity along the entire East Coast. “Northerners had essentially cornered the market,” Dibble said. As she dug for the truth, Dibble found documentation of evidence of slave trading in New England, but none specifically linked to Cape Cod. In 1788, Massachusetts banned slavery, but it wasn’t until 1808 that a federal ban was enacted on slave trading. However, it persisted, and with no impedance on this lucrative barbarity, the commerce continued through the Civil War. Those active in the slave trade were guilty of concealing evidence, throwing their account books overboard, she said.

“It would seem that one of the challenges that we face today is that we have developed the habit as a society, as a region, of turning away from [this] evidence, a sort of willful amnesia set in over the years,” she asserted. The evidence catapulted her toward a mission to not only discover what happened, but to uncover why had she not known about this immense foundation of New England history. “If you don’t know your history, it’ll repeat itself. We are living this right now. What we don’t know about our history hurts others,” Dibble said, referencing the Black Lives Matter movement. In response to her discoveries about New England’s often-overlooked ties to slavery, Dibble has created the Atlantic Black Box Project, what she calls a public history inquiry that relies on an “enlightened crowdsourcing” model. Its aim is to empower interested community members—whether high school students or retired senior citizens or anyone in between—to conduct research into the maritime history of New England and to share their findings with others thanks to an online database, or “black box.” Today, only what she calls a biased archive remains. That ignorance, or maybe even denial, left Dibble with a moral obligation to continue the search through history. For more information, see atlanticblackbox.com.

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UMaine announces partners on floating wind project

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he University of Maine will collaborate with New England Aqua Ventus, LLC (NEAV), a joint venture between Diamond Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corporation, and RWE Renewables, the second largest company in offshore wind globally, to develop UMaine’s floating offshore wind technology demonstration project off the coast of Maine. As the developer, NEAV will own and manage all aspects of permitting, construction and assembly, deployment, and ongoing operations for the project. UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center will continue with design and engineering, research and development, and post-construction monitoring. The project will consist of a single, semisubmersible concrete floating platform that will support a commercial 10–12 megawatt wind turbine and will be deployed in a state-designated area two miles south of Monhegan Island and 14 miles from the coast. The demonstration project will evaluate the floating technology, monitor environmental factors, and develop best practices for offshore wind to coexist with traditional marine activities. It will supply clean, renewable electricity to the Maine grid. Construction, following all permitting, is expected to be completed in 2023. The state’s congressional delegation issued a joint statement in support of the partnership: “For generations, Maine has been a national leader when it comes to using our natural resources sustainably to create jobs, protect our environment and power our economy. The University

of Maine’s floating deep-water offshore wind project carries on that tradition. We have strongly supported UMaine’s development of the Aqua Ventus project.” The delegation noted that Maine’s offshore wind resource potential is 36 times greater than the state’s electricity demand, making the project “significant for Maine’s clean energy future.” An immediate priority for the new development team is to engage with the fishing industry, other maritime users, coastal communities, and other interested parties on how to ensure this new renewable energy source can optimally provide economic growth to Maine and work with maritime industries. Since 2008, the University of Maine has researched floating offshore wind technology as a solution to Maine’s overdependence on imported fossil fuels. After winning funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the university worked with Maine-based construction firm Cianbro to build and deploy the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the U.S. in 2013, a one-eighth scale prototype of its VolturnUS floating hull technology. The success of the project led to additional funding from the DOE to further advance the VolturnUS technology, which has been issued 43 patents to date. The university and Cianbro sought to partner with a world-class offshore wind developer to further demonstrate this technology on a commercial scale. UMaine will continue to own its VolturnUS floating hull intellectual property and license it to NEAV for this project.

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n the August issue, we ran a photo of the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Cowslip calling at Monhegan Island. Reader Dick de Grasse of Islesboro writes: “Your photo of the Cowslip brought back Coast Guard memories. Right out of Coast Guard enlisted boot camp in 1952, I served as a seaman aboard the sister ship buoy tender Evergreen out of Boston. Fortunately, I had a chance to go to Coast Guard electronics school in Groton, Conn. and left the ship before it was to leave for six weeks on winter weather patrol in the North Atlantic. “The most important decision in my life was going to electronics school, which I followed with engineering school under the GI Bill. I encourage young

people today who don’t quite know what to do after high school to consider joining the service and taking advantage of the many service schools. They can and do lead to worthwhile civilian careers.” Mike Gentile, who lives on Cousins Island, writes: “I’m an Island Institute member and retired Coast Guard commander who once commanded the Spar out of South Portland (1984-1987). Buoy tenders are named after trees and shrubs, a holdover from the lighthouse service. Not the Spar, though. Spar was named to honor the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Auxiliary of World War II.”

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The night of the comet

Skies full of wonder, and an escape from Earth’s challenges By Courtney Naliboff THE PAST SIX MONTHS have been a time of introspection. For lack of places to go and things to do, I’ve spent more time than ever in my yard, exploring every nook and cranny with my daughter, tending to the gardens, spraying Deer Off in vain. We’ve found all the raspberries and currants, picked the two surviving serviceberries, and picked off countless cabbage butterfly caterpillars. Luckily, July gave us an extraordinary reason to look up and recall the larger world. On a clear night, our phone rang. It was a neighbor, inviting Bill to go out to the North Shore and attempt to capture a photo of Comet NEOWISE as it began its close pass. Even though it was Penrose’s bedtime, we all bundled up and hit the road. We were one of several cars parked on the side of the road. We had binoculars and Bill’s camera and tripod. We found Ursa Major easily, dead ahead of us, and knew we could use it to find the comet, but as the sunset faded behind the Camden Hills, we were coming up with nothing. Mosquitoes swarmed, and Pen

The comet kept rising in the sky that was rapidly losing patience. Bill pulled out his phone and used an astronomy week, and a few days later we went out again, this time with app to finally locate the the telescope Penrose comet, further south got for her birthday and east than we had from her aunt and expected. uncle. A friend met Once we knew A long smudge us in the same spot where to look, it was of white, with a as before. The comet, so obvious. A long however, had moved, smudge of white, with denser dot at the and it took a few a denser dot at the end, pointed at a minutes to find it. I end, pointed at a red gazed at a wispy streak blinking light in the red blinking light of cloud for quite a hills. I had read that in the hills. while before finally the comet was a full 5 finding the correct kilometers across, and wispy streak. had narrowly missed Bill lined up the telemelting as it passed the scope and suddenly sun. It wouldn’t pass there it was, filling the lens. I’d read this way again for almost 7,000 years. Bill got a few long exposure shots, descriptions of comets as “cosmic which showed us even more clearly the snowballs,” and that’s just what it looked comet’s magnificent tail. Fireflies filled like. An oblong blob of white. But this blob, this conglomeration of ice and the field behind us and in front of us. Car lights coming down the road debris, filled us with awe and wonder. proved to be our new deputy, prob- Here was something completely sepaably wondering if we were a party or rate from the pandemic, cutworms, multi-car accident. We explained, and systemic racism, sharks, murder he was intrigued. Maybe he checked it hornets, fires, and floods that had made this the longest Passover ever. out later that night.

We took turns peering at it, and when a carload of youths pulled up, we invited them to have a turn. One of them was named after my favorite Star Trek captain, which felt apropos. Above the woods across the street two bright objects blazed in the sky, and we identified them as Jupiter and Saturn. We saw Jupiter’s moons and the vague football shape of Saturn that indicated its rings. It inspired Penrose so much that now, on almost every clear night, she begs for telescope time. We still have to put our noses to the grindstone and move through these times, eyes on a vision of a more equitable future. But when things here on Earth seem too hard to bear, the sky is full of moments of escape. Take the time now and then to look up. Courtney Naliboff is a music, theater, and writing teacher who lives on North Haven with her family.

Journal of an Island Kitchen

Tourism a fragile pillar of island economy Pandemic in Bali has sent young people back to the farm By Sandy Oliver IT TURNS OUT THAT the Maine coast and Bali have something major in common. We each depend on tourism as a primary source of income, and economically the pandemic has hurt both of us badly. In the U.S., Maine is first in its economic losses, with Vermont and Nevada as the other two of the three hardest-hit states. A headline in the New York Times a few days ago caught my eye: “With Tourists Gone, Bali Workers Return to Farms and Fishing.” That is, subsistence farming and fishing. It’s going to be a heck of a lot harder for Maine coastal dwellers and islanders to do that because we left our farms a century or more ago and forgot how to dig clams (if we could even find any) to feed ourselves. One Balinese woman who worked with tourists as a masseuse and yoga teacher is now back in her home village, picking cloves. Obviously, returning to traditional life-ways doesn’t pay the way tourist industry jobs do, but she observed that, more or less, it beats starving. It helps her older parents to have her around.

“I feel serene,” she said about picking cloves. “Having this activity calms my mind.” Weeding the garden does that for me and I know it does for many others of us. Apparently, some Balinese community leaders were alarmed at the exodus of young people to urban settings and tourism, concerned about older populations left behind, and formerly productive farms left fallow are welcoming the returning population. How many of our islands have you heard bemoan the loss of young people? Our island has been doing what it can to lure them back here to raise their children, fill the jobs that can’t be off-shored. Tourism, it seems, is a slender reed on which to rest an economy. And when push comes to a really hard shove like the one dished by the pandemic, we find out what is really necessary and important. Besides health care, especially attending to our very old, and teaching and nurturing our young, we need food and shelter. One of our island builders who hires island and mainland carpenters, turned themselves inside out to keep crews healthy and working, setting up systems that kept the workers safe on

ferry trips and separate on the job so that no one lost a living or caught the disease. Of course, being Islesboro, not all construction is absolutely necessary for human shelter, but you get my point. Elsewhere in Maine and New England, we have terrific examples of businesses— food businesses—that absolutely thrived in the pandemic. King Arthur Flour, an employee-owned company based in Vermont, experienced hundreds-fold percentage increases of business during the quarantine phases in the Northeast when people baked at home instead of going out to buy. And in Skowhegan, Maine Grains employs locals and grinds locally obtained grains. The food chain to Maine Grains is short and so is stronger. And even when it is not a dire situation like a pandemic, smaller businesses like artisanal breweries, cheese making operations, and local bread bakers support their communities by not employing big robotic machines like huge producers do, but rather humans who need work. Labor saving devices seem silly with high unemployment. Plus, those businesses call for products and equipment we could produce locally. Flour comes in paper bags with

printing on them; and companies need accountants, people to communicate with potential customers, and keep the equipment running, all work for other professions. So it would go for someone raising lettuce, making cider, or keeping hens for eggs. In times like this, we need jobs that don’t rely on vacationers buying T-shirts or lobster themed tchotchkes. More of us need time to garden, and can, pickle, freeze, and store away food instead of making beds, cleaning bathrooms, and waiting on table for thousands of people from away, particularly when we feel anxious about catching an invisible virus that might travel in with them. (Never mind that there are almost never enough of us to do those jobs, anyway.) We all need to do real sustainable things right now. I’m heading out to pick blueberries since we don’t have cloves. Sandy Oliver is a food historian who lives, gardens, cooks, and writes on Islesboro.

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

Book Reviews

An affectionate history of Maine

Earl Brechlin offers the wild, weird and wonderful in new guide Review by Carl Little HOWEVER DIMMED, deferred, or deleted by the coronavirus, Maine’s bicentennial marches on. The milestone is providing an opportunity to claim pride and/or acknowledge failings in our history, to draw lessons from our past, to highlight the ups and downs and in-betweens. For journalist-historian Earl Brechlin, the 200th birthday is also an excuse to have fun. Wild! Weird! Wonderful! Maine (Islandport Press, paperback, $16.95), Brechlin’s latest Baedeker, offers a highly engaging scan of some of the quirkier, outof-the-ordinary, and lesser-known facets of Maine’s story. As the author puts it in his introduction, “The subjects in this book are a cross between affectionate history, a homespun version of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and a collection of myths, legends, and truths shared for decades around hearths, campfires, and potbelly stoves.” The book is arranged geographically, starting with the Western Mountains, then heading north, then Downeast, ending in Southern Maine via the Midcoast—not your usual itinerary for covering the state. Brechlin has thoughtfully included Maine Atlas coordinates for anyone setting out to find, say, the ghost town in Mariaville Falls Preserve (now managed by Frenchman Bay Conservancy), the Maine Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial outside the Maine State Museum in Augusta, or

the Bumpus Quarry in a former potato field in Albany Township near Bethel “where the largest single crystal of beryl was discovered by Harry Bumpus while mining feldspar in 1928.” He also provides helpful pointers for avoiding arrest for trespassing; some of the out-of-the-way places in the book are on private land. Each section includes “Maine Rest Stops” where Brechlin spotlights some element of Maine, from covered bridges and railroads to record-breaking (sometimes worthy of Guinness) accomplishments and “Lobster Lore.” In the latter, you’ll discover that the noble crustacean can be righthanded or left-handed, “meaning some have the large crusher on the left, some on the right.” Good to know. Another “rest stop” titled “Satan in the Woods & the Deep Blue Sea” highlights Mainers’ fascination with the devil as evidenced by wonderfully creative place names (Hell Before Breakfast Cove). Elsewhere, “Things That Go Bump, or Howl, in the Night” offers a round-up of mythical creature sightings, including the Basin Screecher in Phippsburg. Scattered throughout the book are capsule descriptions of some of Maine’s intriguing residents, among them Wilhelm Reich, whose stone observatory “Organon” in Rangeley serves as a memorial to the controversial scientist and psychoanalyst, and Gunnar Hansen, the Iceland native and Northeast Harbor resident who played

Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As Brechlin points out, in real life Hansen was a beloved soft-spoken community member who loved history. Brechlin sometimes ties the past to the present. In the entry “Presidential ‘Fake News’ Circa 1912,” a doctored photograph shows Teddy Roosevelt riding a bull moose across a lake. What isn’t false is the 26th president’s well-known fondness for northern Maine. A former newspaper editor and currently communications director for Friends of Acadia, Brechlin knows how to write succinctly, but also how to set the hook. “Giant Pan Brings Home the Bacon,” about what is claimed to be the world’s largest non-sticking frying pan located in Pittsfield, begs to be read. And there’s a bonus: a photograph of the pan being used during the town’s annual Central Maine Egg Festival. Brechlin dedicates Wild! Weird! Wonderful! Maine to “all historians, private and professional, working alone or within groups and societies, and through libraries and educational institutions, to discover, uncover, rescue, protect, and preserve the artifacts, stories, and traditions of this incredible state.” The author numbers among that dedicated cohort, owed a debt of gratitude for helping to bring Maine’s history alive. Carl Little writes about art and literature in several publications and his own books. He lives in Mount Desert.

Marital tension, island-style

North Haven’s Kate Hotchkiss pens first novel in projected series Review by Tina Cohen KATE HOTCHKISS OF North Haven has a novel just out, coming at an opportune time when coronavirus has complicated travel and minimized social activities. Reading On Harbor’s Edge: Book One, 19121913 could be a relaxing, self-isolated way to enjoy the Maine coast, whether in person or vicariously. Set on islands with fictional names in a fictitious Silver Bay, the story begins with our heroine, Mildred May Combs, just wed to Thaddeus Gale, whom she had met only seven months earlier. You could call him persistent or a predator—he literally went cruising for a wife, coming by boat from his home on Popplestone Island to Crescent Island five times. Five times he told Mildred to marry him, saying she was needed on Popplestone; because, he said, they “need babies right quick.” More children were essential to the community’s survival and Thaddeus had taken that task upon himself. He was a rough and rugged man, maybe ten years older than her, a lobsterman by trade, with a family home now his own on Hale Harbor’s edge. Mildred was booksmart and proper, although not delicate or timid. Procuring a job for her as schoolteacher for the island’s handful of children was, to Thaddeus’ mind, what could keep her happy. She could work there all day, take care of him and the house, and produce babies—maybe ten if lucky! The post-vows opening scene effectively anticipates the couple’s life together. There is no romance. Thaddeus is able to satisfy his need; here, bringing a wife to Popplestone. What would please Mildred—here, closure saying goodbye to family and friends—is ignored. Their hasty departure from Crescent Island

requires Mildred to unceremoniously wade over rocks through water to climb into Thaddeus’ peapod boat he’d row back. Mildred’s bridal dress is ripped in the process. Then, the rough sea, and perhaps anxiety, make her sick to her stomach. After retching in the boat, Thaddeus snarls, “Making a mess of my fishing boat, Mildred.” Finally, approaching Hale Harbor, he points out his home, with Victorian-style details. She admires it, saying it reminded her of the beautiful wedding cake they left behind. Thaddeus, who had refused to bring any of it along in the boat, answers “it would have slopped all over.” Readers will not wonder for long if tenderness possibly hides under his callousness. He may shine in a lobster boat—tough and tenacious—but not in a marriage bed. Halfway through the book, with its threads of dark subplots, my mind had rearranged the title to On Edge on the Harbor. Perhaps it is no surprise that Popplestone, a small, isolated and remote community with competition in lobstering, would experience tension and conflict both inside families and between families. Mildred—at least in this first volume of a projected series—finds ways to fit in. She is plucky, kind, and resilient; she makes a few alliances in the community and is respected for her work with the children. Just as important, she makes a lobster chowder unrivaled by that of anyone else on the island. In many ways, this book is in the genre of romance novel, but Thaddeus as the object of desire is a tough fit. He’s emotionally abusive to his partner. What will happen with the addition of children? Mildred makes a deal with Thaddeus at the end of this volume, one she thinks will improve her standing

in their relationship. The question of how or if they stay married leaves us awaiting the book’s sequel. And I have another question I hope gets an answer. Hey, Kate Hotchkiss: what is that recipe, please, for such an impressive lobster chowder? Available at katehotchkiss.com. Tina Cohen is a seasonal resident of Vinalhaven.

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The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Field Notes

Strengthening small-business backbone

Island Institute responds to help owners stay afloat through virus By Craig Olson HOW OFTEN HAVE WE at the Island Institute said—like many others throughout Maine—that small business is the backbone of the state. That became clearer than ever in March of this year. Coronavirus hit. We paused. We stepped back. We shut down. It became clear that small businesses were going to be the hardest hit, the ripple effect was going to be enormous. Panic set in. Maine has one of the lowest infection rates in the nation, and we’re building back up. But what about that business backbone? The Institute’s small business team began working at what I would call sea level, instead of the usual 10,000 feet, surveying the overall landscape of the economy in our communities. We put our heads down to curate resource pages on our website so small business owners could access information 24/7. We learned we were best suited to serve as a connector, not the qualified expert. When small business owners contacted us with questions, we provided the answers, if we had them, but often we were able to simply connect them with an off-site small business advisor who could help them quickly and effectively. We learned to navigate CARES Act programs like

the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Through blogposts and emails we interpreted these programs as they were rolled out, shifted, and extended. We launched a webinar in April, “Business in Uncertain Times,” to provide examples of what some business owners were doing to weather the pandemic. We realized we needed to keep that conversation going and created the Commercial Currents podcast, hosted by Claire Donnelly. We’re ten episodes in with more subjects and potential interviews than we know what to do with. Through the Tom Glenn Community Impact Fund we have loans with five small businesses along the coast and equity investments in two more. In the past, our Glenn Fund professional development grants have funded higher level Quickbooks classes, yoga instructor certification in rural communities, training for a coffee roaster, as well as professional workshop registration and travel—anything that would help a small business owner improve their business. What small business owners need now is someone to do the work, not teach them how to do it. Our newly rechristened business resilience grants now provide up to $1,500 for equipment or a professional to help guide a business toward viability.

You just bought a historic building for a co-working space on your island? We can provide funding to purchase appropriate barriers to maintain the social distancing. Since late March, we have distributed $62,694 to 39 business owners, pivoting to adapt to the pandemic. We are on track to distribute that same amount in the next 12 months. As we move into the fall and winter, we remain vigilant. Without a prosperous summer season, we worry about the future of so many small businesses. One thing we knew, but became starkly clear as we worked with businesses, was that the majority of small businesses along the coast are not established as an entity separate from their owner’s personal assets. Applying for many of the federal programs was made harder by not having a separation of those assets. This fall and winter a focus of our business resilient grants will be to provide funding for business owners to work with lawyers and accountants to make that shift. If things don’t work out for your business, you don’t want to lose your house and vehicles, too. Finally, despite all of the impacts of COVID-19, there are still issues we are addressing. On July 5, the Midcoast lost a titan with the sudden death of Kevin

Waters, owner of Penobscot Island Air. This air service is a crucial link for the Penobscot Bay islands to the mainland for passengers, goods, services, and medical transport. The company is moving forward under the leadership of Kevin’s wife, Terry, and we are doing our best to help to make sure this vital part of our regional economy survives and thrives. Small business is the backbone of Maine’s coastal economy. Every business is complicated, every business is struggling, every business is personal. We hope in the months ahead you will keep in mind those local businesses, what they are struggling with and against, and buy from them in any way you can. Some will fail. Many will thrive. There is no quick fix and it’s going to be hard, but the economy will come back stronger and more resilient than ever and we are doing our best to strengthen the backbone of this coast we call home. Craig Olson is a senior community development officer with the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront.

Observer

Pontificating on punctuation

The semicolon’s critical role in communicating intent By Phil Crossman

it with wild abandon and then found myself hearing repeatedly from critics, ONE OF THE CRITERIA, revealed editors, friends and my wife, “This is to me during an adult writing class, no place for a semicolon.” There are other interesting interprethat must be present to justify the use of the semicolon is the need for tations and asides. A semicolon, for a complete thought on either side of instance, is a dot beneath which there the punctuation. Webster’s dictionary is another dot with a tail, not unlike a defines the semicolon as “a punctuation; sperm chasing an egg upstream. It is used chiefly in a coordinating function the most erotic punctuation save, of course, the exclamation point. between sentence elements.” Danish comic Victor Borge once The former criterion, from the writing class, which Webster violates created a legendary routine whereby he employed sounds by using a semicolon and gestures to describe to separate two incomvarious punctuation. The plete thoughts, is much It is the result was hilarious and clearer than this ambigmost erotic involved him reciting a uous offering (it doesn’t punctuation story and inserting punceven offer a simple tuation, not by inflection, graphic). save, of course, but by the employment My own concept of the exclamation of the aforementioned a semicolon simply gestures and sounds. evolved from some point. The semicolon and murky instruction the exclamation, each offered in high school, something about providing more of a composed of two parts graphically, pause than a comma. I’ve never given required the greatest effort and evoked voice to such a definition but have the greatest response. A semicolon was consequently and routinely employed described as a “boink” as his index

finger jabbed a point and a “querrrk” as the finger then squiggled a comma beneath the dot. The Princeton University Writing Center defines a semicolon as chosen to link “two closely related complete sentences, eliminating the need for a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, for, or, not, etc. to join them.” The center also reminds us that we can “use semicolons in long, complex sentences, where clauses are joined by coordinating words, or to signal a significant pause. If the sentence contains a conjunction, a comma may be used, but a semicolon emphasizes the break between clauses, which can shape a particularly long sentence.” Title 15 of the United States Code of Law, Section 3151, deals with civil rights. At one point it admonishes that in instances of noncompliance the “Secretary of Labor may refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action, exercise powers provided for by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or take other action as provided by law.” For the lack of a semicolon it was once argued in court, by the

government, that the Secretary of Labor must take all three forms of action, that the lack of a semicolon implied no independent actions since no independent thoughts were implied. The defense argued successfully that “there was no legal obligation on the part of the framers of the legislation to use a semicolon to indicate independent action; that the inferred choice of action was clear.” The argument may have been strengthened by its own misuse of the semicolon in the quoted sentence. In any event, it was overlooked by the justices. An interesting thing, the semicolon. For the first half of my life it caused me great consternation. I understand, I think, better now and hope to demonstrate that fuller comprehension in the future. Phil Crossman lives on Vinalhaven, where he serves as a member of the town’s select board.

www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

Cranberry Report

A powerful voice from a life that matters Question at forum prompts inquiry into other lives By Barbara Fernald I WAS ASKED in the late spring if I would be willing to participate in a webinar with The Working Waterfront’s three other island columnists to answer questions about island living. Our editor, Tom, was to be the moderator of a panel discussion via Zoom. He sent us his questions ahead of time and said there would also be a 20-minute segment at the end of the discussion for questions that viewers would submit. With five minutes left in the program, the question was asked, “How are your islands addressing the Black Lives Matter movement? Barb?” I did not have a ready answer, and I felt deeply ashamed. So, I panicked and responded with “Go to Courtney,” because I could see her hand waving on the screen below me. The question is important. I think we should all ask ourselves what we are doing about Black Lives Matter. The small island where I live could hardly be called diverse. Many people who live here believe that the island is “a very welcoming place to anyone. Racism just isn’t an issue here.” These convenient beliefs were challenged recently at an island memorial service in honor of George Floyd.

The gathering was organized by a young black woman who grew up here. Several people spoke, but it was her steady recounting of a different history that punched me in the heart and took away my convenient innocence. I have asked for permission to reprint some of her words: “In Maine and other states, I’ve experienced racial profiling. I’ve been threatened with police for just existing. I’ve been told to go back to my country. I’ve been physically and verbally assaulted. I’ve been denied service at stores and restaurants. I have had my pain ignored by doctors and nurses. I have seen people assaulted by the police. I have been mistreated by the police, learned interacting with the police can cause more harm and I can’t expect them to protect me. I have seen people and myself denied empathy and understanding. I have seen people denied justice. “Islesford and the Cranberry Isles is home to me, even when I do not live here. And when I return from my adventures away, this community welcomes me home with love and open arms and I am thankful. “At the same time, this beautiful place can be a place of pain. Even here I endure the legacies of white supremacy,

of racism, of ignorance, whether or not that is the intention. On these islands I have been called slurs, I have been treated differently. “I have been told I misunderstood, that I’m too sensitive, that I’m playing the race card. I’ve been told I’m not really black. I’ve been told that the person causing me pain didn’t mean me, that they just aren’t ‘PC’, that they aren’t racist, that they have friends who are black, that they don’t have a racist bone in their body, that they don’t see color. “I’ve been told to be quiet.” On the Sand Beach, that day of the service, 50 of us were standing 6 feet apart and wearing masks. There was enough of a breeze blowing that the waves were steadily lapping the shore. It was difficult to hear. I am honored that my friend let me repost her words, here. Especially for the people who were at the service yet unable to hear all of it. Her words made me realize how very little I understand, and how very much I have to learn. They humbled me. What can I do to support the changes that need to be made? My brother sent me a reading list from a group of scientists who started a diversity/antiracist reading group where he works, in D.C. (I’m happy to share it with anyone who asks.) I’ve

had discussions with my friend at the transfer station who was reading How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi. She comes from a diverse background but had never heard the term. She wanted to learn. One island reading group has been discussing the book, White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo. I’ve started reading Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi and I’m recommending Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates for our book group in October. I plan to do a lot of reading to better understand what I need to learn. I don’t know what else to do from a tiny Maine island in the middle of a pandemic, but it feels like a start. My innocence of black history is a recognizable white privilege that I can and will work to relinquish. Black Lives Matter. Barbara Fernald lives and writes on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island). Her editor apologizes for throwing such a loaded question without warning at her during the panel discussion.

Fathoming

Climate council work is narrowing focus Opportunity for public input is now available By Kate Tagai IN A WORLD WHERE every king tide inundates parking lots and building basements, where great white sharks can be found off the rocky shores of the Maine coast, and where the summer bakes us with the intensity many southern visitors have come to try to escape, we can no longer debate change. We live in a world of change. Since the Maine Legislature passed LD 1679, the bill that established the Maine Climate Council in June 2019, the council has been meeting regularly to unpick the complicated web of these changes and their effects to create an action plan. The plan is due on Gov. Janet Mills’ desk on Dec. 1 and will outline some of the most ambitious carbon reduction and climate adaptation strategies in the nation, including how we will meet an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while ensuring that Maine communities are resilient to the impacts of climate change. Through the guidance of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and the Climate Council, Maine is once again leading the way.

The council is organized into working groups with diverse industry leaders, state officials, business and non-profit professionals who have spent the last year digging into what we are already doing at the state, county, and local levels to address climate change. Then they turned to identifying what else should and could be done to meet the targets and where there are unnecessary barriers to progress including existing legislation, overly restricted funding, or lack of incentive. The working groups are organized around broad topic areas: buildings, infrastructure, and housing; coastal and marine; community resilience planning, public health and emergency management; energy; natural and working lands; and transportation. At the start of the summer the working groups turned to the public to gather insight. Through a series of surveys, the council is asking for guidance to help set priorities and identify gaps where they may have missed important considerations. In August, the Maine Islands Coalition invited Brian Ambrette, senior climate resilience coordinator from the policy innovation and future group to speak about the council’s work. Much of it will

have long term implications for towns. The island community volunteers, select board members, and town managers who are part of the MIC wanted to understand what could be coming and how it could relate to planning already underway or bottlenecks in financing and funding they’ve encountered. “The range of initiatives outlined in this draft plan really touch on all major aspects and concerns of our communities,” observed Andy Dorr, Vinalhaven’s town manager and a member of the MIC. “Technical and financial resources will be imperative to see this work fulfilled. This planning effort proves the importance of making the commitment.” The scope of the work being proposed implicates government, civil society and all sectors of the economy. The problem is so complex, one strategy will not succeed and so the climate council is building a comprehensive approach. One draft recommendation considers a review of existing state laws so that we can eliminate contradictions and ensure climate action is supported by our laws. Another large-scale recommendation calls for modernizing and optimizing the electric grid while simultaneously increasing the electrification

of transportation systems and reducing overall vehicle miles traveled to keep the electrification rates realistic. A smaller scale proposal asks for incentives and rebates to help consumers upgrade existing vehicles to electric or hybrid versions. The community resiliency subgroup emphasized that accessible technical assistance will be a key strategy for implementing many of these changes, along with being able to learn from regions outside of Maine that are testing out ways of adapting. If you haven’t already, as a resident or visitor to Maine, I encourage you to read the draft recommendations and provide your thoughts and voice through the surveys. The conversations that are happening at the climate council will impact all of us for many years to come. Kate Tagai is a senior community development officer with the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront.

The Working Waterfront . September 2020

Research shows plastic is impacting larval lobster From entering under shells to ingesting, fiber is interacting

icroplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, according to new research. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals’ feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood. “In today’s ocean, organisms are exposed to so many environmental factors that affect how many make it to the next stage of life,” said Paty Matrai, a study author and senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. “Lobsters play a fundamental role in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem as well as the state’s economy, and it is important that we understand how pollutants impact their development.” Young lobsters grow to adulthood through four distinct developmental stages, and the researchers found that the physiology of each stage determined how the animals interacted with plastic fibers. The youngest lobsters didn’t consume them, but they were plagued by fibers accumulating under the shells that protect their gills. In experiments where the larvae were exposed to high levels of fibers, the youngest larvae were the least likely to survive. More mobile and agile, the older lobster larvae did not accumulate fibers under their shells, but they did ingest the particles and keep them in their digestive systems. This could be problematic for lobster larvae coming of age in the ocean. Fresh plastics often leach chemicals, and their surfaces can foster potentially toxic sea life. “Plastic particles have been found in almost every animal in the ocean,” said David Fields, another study author and a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory. “If an animal can fit something in its tiny little piehole, it’s probably going to—and that can have repercussions for the animal and potentially for the food web.” Microplastic fibers enter the ocean from sources including wastewater, and they can also be created in the ocean as larger materials degrade. Plastics tend to float at the surface, where they are exposed to sunlight and wave action that eventually break them down into small particles. Though the levels of microplastic fibers in coastal Maine waters are relatively low, they can still present a serious challenge to the animals that encounter them. In addition, some animals are predisposed to encounter any fibers that are in the area. Because microplastic fibers tend to remain at the ocean’s surface, animals that inhabit surface waters are more likely to come into contact with them— including larval lobsters. “Even relatively low levels of plastics can be harmful for the animals that encounter them, and where an animal lives in the water column can amplify the problem,” Fields said. “A lobster larva that eats a plastic fiber is just like us eating a candy wrapper. It’s not great, but it will probably just pass though. But if all you’re eating is candy wrappers, it’s certainly going to have other repercussions for your health.” With ocean acidification and rising temperatures already challenging lobsters and other sea life, the researchers are particularly interested in how this plastic pollution may compound with the other environmental stressors that ocean animals are facing. They are interested in conducting future experiments that could probe how animals are impacted when challenged by all three of these factors simultaneously. Matrai and Fields previously studied the impact of microplastic fibers on mussels with Madelyn Woods, a recent Bigelow Laboratory intern and the lead author of this paper. Fellow authors Theresa Hong, Donaven Baughman, and Grace Andrews also all studied with Matrai and Fields during the summer of 2019. “As a global community, we are just becoming aware of the impact of plastics in the ocean, and the reality that this pollution is superimposed on other changes in the environment,” Matrai said. “By working together to reduce the amount of microplastic fibers in the ocean, we can all help protect our important marine resources.”

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, SeaGrant-Maine, and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

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A close-up view of lobster larvae in stage 1 of its development. PHOTO: MADELYN WOODS

Paty Matrai. PHOTO: MADELYN WOODS

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www.workingwaterfront.com . September 2020

Save Maine’s Lobster Industry One of the world’s most sustainable fisheries could be shut down and we cannot let that happen. Right whales are not dying in Maine lobster gear. Patrice McCarron, executive director Maine Lobstermen’s Association

• The federal government has violated the Endangered Species Act. • The Maine lobster fishery could be shut down. • This could mean the end of the lobstering tradition for our children.

The MLA is raising $500,000 for the Legal Defense Fund to save Maine’s lobster industry.

Donate Online: www.mainelobstermen.org Donate By Mail: MLA LDF, 2 Storer St, Ste 203, Kennebunk ME 04043

Maine Lobstermen’s Association Legal Defense Fund

7/1/2020

The Working Waterfront . September 2020

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10/8/19 1:03 PM

In 2016, we set out to raise $25 million in four years, and we’re looking to finish strong and surpass all expectations. Any gift made before December 31st will propel Maine’s island and coastal communities forward as we confront a changing world. The Thriving Communities, Thriving Coast campaign focuses on: •

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