News of Maine’s Coast and Islands
THE WORKING
volume 35, № 3
published by the island institute
Halibut—a huge, thrilling, and tasty fish
n
may 2021 n free circulation: 50,000 n
workingwaterfront.com
NEW FERRY LAUNCHED—
Month-long season on this flatfish begins May 18 By Laurie Schreiber
“O
nce you’ve caught a halibut, you’ll never be the same, if you like fishing,” said Erik Waterman, a commercial fisherman who lives in South Thomaston and fishes out of Spruce Head. Waterman was talking about wild-caught Atlantic halibut, one of the largest fish in the Gulf of Maine and the largest species of flatfish in the world. Usually he’s out trapping lobsters. But he’s fished for halibut since 1999 and looks forward to the state’s short halibut fishing season, which this year takes place from May 18 through June 13. “You’re not really doing it for the money,” he said. “It’s more of an obsession.” It’s a different experience and a thrilling fishery, Waterman explained. These are huge fish. Living up to 50 years, they can be up to 15 feet long. Full-grown females average 100 to 150 pounds, although individuals weighing 600 to 700 pounds have been landed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The newest vessel in the Maine State Ferry Service’s fleet was launched at Washburn & Doughty’s shipyard in East Boothbay on Friday, April 9. The Richard G. Spear is named for a former, long-time ferry service captain. PHOTO: MICHELE STAPLETON
Some might consider them odd-looking. As a “flatfish,” their bodies are compressed and both eyes are on one side. Their large mouths are armed with sharp, curved teeth. The halibut population is a remnant of what it once was, but strict regulations with gear, size, season, and
catch restrictions allow for a limited fishery. In state waters, fishermen may land 25 halibut during the one-month season. Several types of gear are allowed. Waterman uses bottom longlines equipped with circle hooks continued on page 2
In tough year, Maine seafood landings top $500 million Lobster landings for 2020 just over $400 million
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espite unprecedented market losses, Maine fishermen earned over a half billion dollars for their catch in 2020. Valued at $516,796,614, the ex-vessel value
of Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources was the ninth highest on record. “Maine fishermen and seafood dealers weathered one of the most
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difficult years in memory, but through the industry was facing a pending hard work and an unwavering dedica- market collapse due to COVID-19, but tion to quality, they were able to once the industry’s response was remarkable. Dealers develagain provide tremenoped new markets and dous value for seafood harvesters adjusted consumers, and a vital At $4.20 per pound, effort based on market economic foundation realities, all of which for Maine’s coastal the boat price was resulted in a good boat communities,” said significantly better price during a year with Gov. Janet Mills. Maine’s lobster than the $3.76 average seemingly insurmountable obstacles.” fishery once again boat price over the At 96 million pounds, accounted for most of the catch declined by Maine’s overall landed past ten years. approximately five value at $405,983,832, percent from 2019 landwhich was only the ings, but according to seventh time in the history of the fishery the landed value landings data, the volume was the ninth highest in the history of the fishery. has exceeded $400 million. “Maine’s lobster industry faced At $4.20 per pound, the boat price tremendous uncertainty in 2020,” was significantly better than the $3.76 said Marine Resources Commissioner average boat price over the past ten years. Patrick Keliher. “At this time last year, continued on page 2
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Port Clyde fisherman Gerry Cushman with a halibut. PHOTO: COURTESY CUSHMAN FAMILY
HALIBUT
continued from page 1 designed to certain specifications meant to target allowed fish sizes and to prevent the fish from swallowing them. Often, he gets one to four fish per day. Steaming five to 15 miles offshore, he usually sets his lines in the morning, then returns the next morning to haul them. Halibut are fighters. “It would be the equivalent of going fly-fishing in the river and catching a threepound salmon or trout,” he said. “It’s not really a commercial thing. I take my kids out. I take friends out. The money for the fish is just a bonus. It’s my trout fishing on the ocean.” “I’d agree with that,” said Gerry Cushman of Port Clyde. “There’s nothing like the excitement of a halibut on the end of a line. You get guys screaming and hollering.” He added, “It’s just such a beautiful creature.” Cushman, a fifth-generation fisherman, holds a federal permit, so he isn’t constrained by the season in the same way that state fishermen are. He can harvest halibut year-round, but typically only targets them in the spring, also using longlines with circle hooks. He’s allowed one halibut per trip, no matter the length of the trip. He’ll go as far as 10 miles offshore to find a good bed of the bottomdwellers, which prefer sand, gravel, or clay. Halibut, he noted, can’t usually be detected with a sonar device called a fish finder, so he just looks for likely seabeds. “I think they like bottom they can blend into,” he said.
Halibut on ice.
A couple of years ago he found a bed that yielded 19 keepers over the course of the season. “There are certain areas where there’s halibut every year,” he said. “And there’s bottom where they had been, and then you go back and they’re not there. But they’re not far from the original spot.” Cushman’s largest halibut weighed 118 pounds. Both he and Waterman sell their hauls direct to local markets. “From my deck to their door, there’s no middleman and it’s fresh off the boat,” said Waterman. “The great thing about halibut is that, if you live in Maine and you see fresh halibut on the menu and in the market, it’s fresh,” said Cushman. “Everything’s seasonal when it comes to fishing. I tell people, You want to enjoy it while it’s here.” Halibut has a mild, sweet taste. When cooked, the meat is firm, yet flaky and tender. So how do fishermen cook it? “I like it blackened,” said Cushman. “Sometimes we just grill it with a little butter and some parsley. Halibut is one of those fish where it’s just fantastic on its own. And it’s good for you.” “You can fry it, you can bake it. I like it grilled,” said Waterman. “There are so many things you can do. It’s very versatile.” He added, “I’ll fillet or steak them and give it away. I call it fish karma. My neighbors love me.”
LANDINGS
continued from page 1 “The Maine lobster industry continues to demonstrate exceptional resiliency,” said Keliher. “I’m extremely proud of the commitment by harvesters and dealers to adapt to change and to sustain the value of this critically important industry.” Softshell clam harvesters earned the second highest value of all Maine fishermen in 2020 on the strength of a six-cent per pound increase in value. Despite 1.2 million fewer pounds landed, harvesters were paid $15,671,473. Maine scallop fishermen brought ashore an additional 224,874 pounds compared to 2019, ranking the fishery as the third most valuable, despite a 19-cent per pound decrease in value. Blood worms, used as bait for species like striped bass, were the fourth most valuable fishery at $6,649,864. The value was an increase of $363,773 over the previous year as a result of a $1.34 per pound jump despite a decline in landings of just over two percent.
Menhaden, used as bait for lobster, were Maine’s fourth most valuable commercially harvested species at $6,395,527. Oysters, cultivated in aquaculture operations, were valued at $5,907,859 which made them the fifth most valuable commercial species in 2020 due to a per-pound increase of 24 cents, notwithstanding a drop in overall value of $987,628. Despite a decrease in per-pound value of more than $1,500, elvers remained one of the most valuable species harvested in Maine in 2020, with harvesters earning $5,067,521. “Maine harvesters, dealers, and aquaculturists have faced an unmatched year of challenges,” said Keliher. “But I’ve been extraordinarily proud to see how this industry deals with hardship, solves problems, and continues to deliver the best seafood in the world.” More landings information can be found on the Maine DMR website.
see how the situation unfolds.” Annie Tselikis, executive direc Lobster Dealers Association, ech .see .view: the www.workingwaterfront.com April 2020 www.workingwaterfront.com May“Everyone 2021 in13 3 seafoo ing about this right now.” Tselikis predicted the coronavirus seas lobster markets, given cancellat of flights to China, South Korea, and “It’s having a dire impact, from to lobster,” she said. “People are fe this issue and we’ll see an effect sure. What that’s going to look li termined. But we all should be thi Public relations around right w mount, LaCroix said. “We want to make sure people kn try is interested in protecting right A media audit found that the w “lobster” are getting a small share overall conversation about right w Marianne LaCroix is executive director of the Maine “It’s not getting much national a Lobster Marketing Collaborative. In order to promote Maine’s pe Story and photo by Laurie Schreiber laborative in 2019 put together an sures the industry has taken over he Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to protect right whales, includin has been developing public relations strate- sures to require Maine-specific ge gies that relay the Maine lobster industry’s are in the works to produce an op commitment to protecting the endangered North perspective and working with na Atlantic right whale. to make sure Maine’s lobster ind Now it’s monitoring potential impacts of the coro- message out, she said. navirus on the industry. “We want to make sure we asse “It’s affecting industries across the board,” said ship position and make sure peop Marianne LaCroix, the collaborative’s executive di- ing collaborative,” LaCroix said.
A hometown revival in Owls Head
General store open again, thanks to COVID coincidence By Kelli Park
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aya Newsam has found her niche in Owls Head. That location isn’t coincidence. It’s where her great-great grandparents were rooted in the working waterfront. And as the new owner of Owls Head General Store, Newsam is here to stay. “My great-grandmother is the reason that I’m here,” says Newsam, whose great-great grandfather, Pete Reed, moved to Owls Head from the Bar Harbor area during the Great Depression and built the wharf now called Ship to Shore. Newsam, a New Hampshire native, has spent every summer of her life in Owls Head. “I knew I’d end up back here somehow,” she says. Newsam is no stranger to hard work, having worked in restaurants since she was 16, from the desert of Arizona to the shores of Cape Ann, Mass. After studying human resources management in college, Newsam found herself managing a bar, aiming for a job in human resources at a casino. COVID changed her plans. Thinking the shut down would last about two weeks, Newsam and her partner left Massachusetts for the family home in Owls Head. There, she saw that the general store was for sale after sitting empty since closing in 2017. “I couldn’t believe it. It was the hub. The whole town just seemed depressed,” she says. Newsam and her mother talked about how the general store would need someone with restaurant and management experience, someone
who was willing to work 80 hours a week to do all that needed doing. “I thought about it. Owls Head is my favorite place in the world. Why couldn’t I do that? I have all of those things. I love the industry,” says Newsam, who was growing tired of working until 2 a.m. in the bar scene. “I didn’t know how to stay in the industry and feel fulfilled. That’s where this came about.” In June 2020, Newsam bought the building, which was originally constructed as a post office in 1880 and has been a general store since the 1920s, and she quickly immersed herself in a series of planned, and unplanned, construction projects. The newly renovated general store opened in October and Newsam found herself working from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Maya Newsam in front of her store. PHOTO: KELLI PARK day for the first two weeks, after which her staff of 11 began to fall into place. Newsam is now hitting her stride odds and ends, including with general store traditions, old and hammers, toothpicks, INTERNET for your own Maine island... new. The classic Seven Napkin Burger, oven thermometers, criba historic favorite, has held steady as bage boards, and ping Blazing fast Internet for your ocean lifestyle this year! the top seller, while the demand for pong balls, among other homemade fudge, which has replaced things. Day Systems connects challenging marine and remote locations the store’s penny candy selection in “The localswith are Internet what worldwide / WiFi / telephone service—from the time of COVID, exploded during really keep me going. mountaintops in the West to camps and homes in New England the month of December and has since That’s who strategies I’m here make the unlikely happen. Our tested become a go-to for customers, who for,” she explains. “It’s John Martin, Bud Staples, Elsie Gillespie around the woodstove at the annual town meeting. consistently favor the peanut butter. not like and nobody lives chat Don’t let the seas prevent you from staying in touch! Newsam has started offering pizza in Owls Head in the Call any time orI e-mail 2020@daysys.me for effective creative and take-home meals, including shep- middle of winter. live Newsam waits on customers. PHOTO: KELLI PARK solutions to get your private Maine island or marina online. herd’s pie and fish dinners, and plans in Owls Head in the https://daysys.me to offer ice cream this summer, while middle of winter! We’re really trying Newsam hopes to shape her own path exploring possibilities to increase to step up and do community-based into the future, with her family heritage engineering construction storage space and indoor seating. things because it’s really important. to carry her forward. “Opportunities The Would You Happen to Have We’ve already gotten a few things down have been coming along day after day. DAY Systems daysys.me 207.888.4567 section, a return to the traditional mom- and we have a few more things up our I’m just letting things wash over me and-pop general store, features requested sleeve.” these days,” she says.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
To market we go—
Acadia Vendors: affordable space in high-price area By Laurie Schreiber
L
ong-time Mount Desert Island fishermen Holly Masterson and David Horner were busy recently prepping a site in Southwest Harbor for a completely new endeavor— an outdoor vendors market for entrepreneurs of all stripes. Within hours of advertising on social media and a new website, the Acadia Vendors Market received queries from food truck operators, farmers, crafters, woodworkers, antique dealers, and even someone asking about setting up a track for remote-control model car races. Inquiries poured in from established businesses, start-ups, individuals looking for an outlet for their crafts, and traveling exhibitors. “We launched the site and people are reaching out: ‘Is their business something we would consider?’” said Masterson. “The answer is ‘yes.’” Horner, a New Jersey native, moved to Mount Desert Island at age 13, began fishing from Beal’s Lobster pier in Southwest Harbor, and now has spent 47 years in the industry, harvesting groundfish, scallops, lobster, whiting, and other Gulf of Maine seafood. He was also Masterson’s stepfather throughout her childhood. Masterson was 24 when she started lobster fishing with Horner. The two have fished together ever since. In March, they were wrapping up the scallop season and planning to set traps Brown Family Farm had a spot at Acadia at the end of May. After years on Maine’s Vendors Market last year and will return lobster license waiting list, Masterson this summer. finally received her own license in 2020 PHOTO: COURTESY ACADIA VENDORS MARKET but planned to continue fishing with Horner for another year or two. “I consider him a mentor,” she said. “He said that, if you needed a shovel, “We’ve had a great working relation- you didn’t go to a big box store like ship for a long time.” Home Depot. You went to a flea market Masterson also owns Downeast and there would be 30 different shovels Destinations Rental Properties, Acadia to choose from,” recounted Masterson. Grab-N-Go Kayak Rentals, and The two decided to create a space Masterson Seafood, and where entrepreneurs could she’s an associate broker sell products from an “allwith Southwest Harbor real in-one” destination. Space “We wanted estate firm L.S. Robinson would be provided to something Co. She became interested vendors for an affordable fee, in the property—a 4-acre with vendor spaces available with less rules wooded lot on Main Street, all week. They cleared the and more a prime location between woods, created picnic areas, Southwest Harbor’s downand installed underground flexibility to let town area and several power, a parking lot, and popular Acadia National a small business Porta potties. Rental spaces Park spots—through her basically control are flexible: A business can set work at the brokerage. up for one day or the whole their sales…” “You go through a season, which is expected to mental checklist saying, run this year from mid-May ‘What could happen at through October. Vendors the property for a potential buyer?’” can set up where they feel is best for she said. “I was talking with Dave one them and will have the option to install day and he said, ‘Why don’t we buy it?’” small buildings at their site. The goal is The two spoke with a few different to get more long-term vendors. folks about doing a variety of things, “I’ve had a flood of support from our possibly building a lobster pound for future customers, but we really need lease or a multi-purpose commercial vendors who are willing to pioneer this structure, she said. new business model with us,” she said. The collective market was an idea Affordability is key in an area where that percolated partly because of many small businesses simply can’t pay Horner’s experience as a child in New high rents in popular tourist towns, Jersey going to flea markets. she said.
Long-time Mount Desert Island fishermen Holly Masterson and David Horner are starting Acadia Vendors Market in Southwest Harbor. PHOTO: LAURIE SCHREIBER
Rodick’s Seaside Takeout last year snapped up space at the new Acadia Vendors Market before it even officially launched. PHOTO: COURTESY ACADIA VENDORS MARKET
“This is a good option for those folks getting their business out there,” she said. Masterson is working with Maine Small Business Development Centers to promote the location for businesses that have struggled or had to close due to the pandemic. “We wanted something different and heard multiple vendors complaining about the rules and judging process that most farmer markets go by,” she said. “We wanted something with less rules and more flexibility to let a small business basically control their sales themselves.”
By mid-March, about a dozen vendors had signed on, including a food truck called Rodick’s Seaside Takeout, which operated at the site the last couple of years. Masterson said she’d love to add a variety of farmer vendors with fresh vegetables, flowers, meats, honey, maple syrup. and more seafood. “We hope our outdoor space is unique in the sense that it’s always changing with new vendors,” she said. “We have our core group, but we hope to have furniture makers, craftsmen and such as well, even if it’s just for a few of the bigger weekends in the summer.”
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
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arving from green wood is a whole different beast from dry-wood carving, says Danielle Rose Byrd, a Bar Harborbased wood carver and sculptor. “It’s wet wood. It behaves differently when it dries. It wants to crack and people are super scared of that. And so I’m like…Why is that bad?” In Byrd’s new book, The Handcarved Bowl: Design and Create Custom Bowls from Scratch, released on April 13, the self-taught carver presents step-by-step wood carving instruction, with some soul-carving instruction threaded in. The first-time author’s journey to carving green wood began with pre-med. At first glance, it seems a stretch to go from pre-med studies to wood carving, but Byrd sees a connection: She was planning on becoming an orthopedic surgeon. “I’m really interested in just putting things back together…and the intensity of it really drew me in.” But her surgical plans unraveled when 9/11 happened only ten days after she started college in New York City and she realized that being on the pre-med track meant her life, at not even 20 years old, was planned out. “I was like, it doesn’t have to be this way. What do I do?” She ended up in a self-directed study program at Bar Harbor’s College of the Atlantic. Known more for its marine biology and environmental studies programs than for music, COA offered Byrd supported interdisciplinary freedom. “It just set me free,” she says. “If I wanted to go in a certain direction, people were willing to step up and be like, ‘Yeah, let’s get you there. How do we get you there?’ That was super appealing.” That level of support is ultimately what put her on the track to wood carving. She had delved into creating sound sculptures, frequently from items she’d scavenged at the local dump, and had set upon the idea of building a fiddle-like instrument for her senior project. One day, while trying to figure out how she was going to build her fiddle, she saw a pile of demolition debris outside the maintenance building. One of her work-study jobs had been with the buildings and grounds department, so she asked
her pals in the department what they were going to do with the wood in the pile. They told her they were going to burn it, then jokingly asked her if she wanted it. Oh yeah, she wanted it. She collected the wood but didn’t have any tools for shaping it into a fiddle, so the buildings and grounds crew stepped in again, giving her access to the department’s shop and tools. She had a lot of down time waiting for wood to soak in scalding hot water or for glue to dry so one day, she picked up some of the chisels in the shop, selected a piece of scrap wood, and found herself carving a spoon. That simple, very rough, spoon led her on a multiyear journey of learning how to carve and teaching others how to carve, too. The Handcarved Bowl is an extension of that learning/teaching experience. In it, she offers three bowl projects that serve as a framework for carvers of all skill levels. She also shares nitty gritty info on tools and other know-how, such as how to select and harvest wood, and offers tips on keeping your body in good working order because a woodworker’s body is as much a woodworking tool as is an adze. And she subtly addresses some psychological barriers she has faced and she’s seen other wood carvers or would-be wood carvers struggle with: the fear of failure and the need to create perfect objects. “I’m trying to tell people, look, we have to reframe failure,” she says. When student wood carvers ask her what she does with the bowls she made “mistakes” on, she tells them that she just changed them into bowls that didn’t look like mistakes. “It’s just a design change,” she says. “What’s so freeing about this kind of woodworking is that it can be very open-ended,” she says. She hopes her book will give wood carvers a safety net of sorts that will enable them to change the way they see the crack—and maybe even make some deliberate “mistakes.” Go to www.daniellerosebyrd.com or Byrd’s Instagram (danielle_rose_byrd) to learn more about her work and book and to keep up with book-related events.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Deer Isle, Stonington affordable housing breaks ground Units will serve off-island, on-island renters By Laurie Schreiber
F
undraising is nearly complete and construction will soon start on the first phase of an affordable housing project, called Oliver’s Ridge, that’s designed to serve workforce housing needs in Deer Isle and Stonington. Island Workforce Housing, a nonprofit organization formed in 2018 by Deer Isle and Stonington residents to address a problem of crisis proportions, will start building foundations for five duplex buildings in a location halfway between Deer Isle and Stonington, on 27.5 acres acquired by IWH in 2019. Each duplex will contain two 900-square-foot, two-bedroom, energy-efficient rental apartments. Site preparation and roadwork began last November. “It’s a large tract of land in a convenient location,” said Henry Teverow, Stonington’s economic development director and an IWH board member. “It’s large enough to site ten units. It’s tucked back, away from the road, which lends the buildings more privacy.” Half the land will go to clustered housing designed by Bucksport architect John Gordon, and shared space; half will be conserved. The group recently completed a $25,000 business challenge grant, receiving donations from 58 area businesses. All together, the capital campaign has received over $975,000 in commitments, leaving about $200,000 to raise. To that end, IWH received a $100,000 matching pledge from part-time island resident Donald Sussman and is now seeking donations for the match. Deer Isle contractor B.K. Burgess is handling construction. “It feels good to be creating jobs on the island,” said Teverow. It’s expected construction could be complete by early 2022. The project is owned by Island Workforce Housing, which is working out details for property management, he said. Marketing for the rentals will begin closer to completion, he said. There are two priority groups—renters who work on the island but live off-island; and workers who live and work on the island but can’t find affordable year-round rentals. The project was planned as the first of three phases to construct 30 units overall. Fundraising for the next phase hasn’t begun yet, said Teverow. In an opinion piece, Matthew Trombley, executive director of Deer Isle’s Island Nursing Home—one of the island’s largest employers—said the scarcity is impacting recruitment of staff and contractors. Over a recent two-month period,
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the facility lost four registered nurses and eight certified nursing assistants, and was unable to place nearly ten contractors, due to the lack of local affordable housing. “If we are not able to rectify the housing situation in the area in a marginal time, we may find ourselves unable to fill the capacity of our facility due to inadequate staffing, “ he wrote. “This will greatly affect our local community’s ability to keep their loved ones close at the end years of their lives, requiring many individuals to travel up to three hours away to visit their loved ones.” The situation has worsened drastically over the past decade, he wrote. Over 50 percent of the staff now lives off-island, including Trombley himself, who travels from over an hour away due to the inability to find nearby housing. In 2019, an analysis by national consulting firm Camoin Associates concluded the island needed as many as 85 affordable rentals to fill demand. If anything, Teverow said, it’s worse now. “This pandemic has disrupted so many people’s lives,” he said. “It’s put so many people out of work. People have had to dip into their savings just to get by.”
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Emphasis on work consistent with state climate plan
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he Department of Marine Resources Coastal Program announces the availability of funds for Shore and Harbor Planning grants. Funds may be used to develop plans for waterfront facilities and amenities, harbor and mooring plans, waterfront vulnerability assessments and resiliency plans, waterfront conservation and improvement, planning studies for public and working access, plans and designs for harbor improvements, and management plans for municipal waterfront facilities. Planners are encouraged to consider projects that contribute to multi-town or regional planning and resource management efforts such as addressing shared bay-wide harbor management and use issues, tackling regional comprehensive planning efforts, enhancing efforts to acquire and/or secure public recreational and working access to tidal waters, supporting marine resource management activities, advancing strategic land conservation planning efforts, and contributing to waterfront develop efforts for public access and sustainable eco-tourism. For this grant round, distribution of awards emphasizes waterfront climate
resilience with a focus on projects that advance the recommendations identified in Maine Won’t Wait: A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action. Grants are available to municipalities in the state’s designated coastal zone, which includes all towns with tidal waters, to the head of tide on tidal rivers. Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis, based on the results of a project scoring and selection process. Grants are intended to be issued to municipalities, but other entities and organizations may participate through a partnership with a lead municipality. A match, in cash or in-kind, of 25 percent of total project cost is required. The program intends to allocate $150,000 in grants. Individual grants may not exceed $30,000. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Kathleen Leyden, Maine Coastal Program at Kathleen.Leyden@ maine.gov to discuss project ideas. Final deadline for proposals is May 3 at 5 p.m. For more information, see: https:// www.maine.gov/dmr/mcp/grants/ index.html
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www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
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cRanBeRRy RepoRt Is ‘fishless’ fish next on the menu?
lobster meatlines, being developed ting,Faux painting eatingin Asia , and throwing rocks By Tom Walsh
now costs about $2,500 a pound to produce. By one MILLIONS OF RESEARCH and development calculation, that makes the cost of a steamed dumpdollars are being invested in a startup company in ling stuffed with pork and Shiok “lobster” about Singapore that has converted a high-rise parking $300 each. sford. garage bright red a black stripe) and, likemanufactures piece of purple At ropetheto BaoBao the end Dumpling of the House in Portland, a intowith a production facility that pizzas, lobster every other lobster fisherman in Maine buoy line or toggle, all attachments similarbut fresh-caught Maine lobster and pork steamed “meat. ” busier this madedumpling with a splice or acost tuck. about, talked about, might $3. Forwinter, years he theread meat “analogue” industrymust has be been re the busy I know it’s a stretch to compare foland profitably experimented with purple paint. As generations of Mainers know too well, the Gulf developing, creating, and marketing eason. plant-based lowing Maineof whale requireThe latest whale regulations Maine’srope lobster industry from Massachusetts to meatless “beef ” require patties for Burger portu- King’s with a Nova plein Scotia air workshop, but all Maine lobster fishermen use“sausage” new ments is a foundational source of both family Impossible Whopper to and for Little riends Caesar’s markings on the ropes they attach to a person could return home from ei- waterfront economy, and sustenance and the working pizzas. rip to lobster traps.mock Depending on how close Beyond ther and that they’d paint- of years. They also know it has beenbeen for hundreds Since 2013, meat manufacturer Meatsay so g was has their spare time. If Bruce were to shore fish, they will have to add ing in beenthey milking demand for eco-friendly, plantere so based writing an essay on how he spent his 2-4 purple marks each” buoy line. sausage. “chicken” andon“beef and “pork ” By ou did one winter vacation, painting would be a On warps that are 100-feet or less there industry account, the faux meat market in the ques- U.S. mustwas be $895 one 12-inch mark with- part of it. Another part would be the millionpurple in 2018-2019. ber at inAnother a few fathoms of the trap andforecasts a 36- description industry projection the global I heard him tell his brother e sub- market Marktoabout inch purple mark within products 2 fathomswill of surge for meat analogue $40 walking to get doughnuts, meet- billion the buoy. the warp is longer that 100tuna, in salmon, February, with our son Robin, and by If 2029. By then—along with floor!) caviar, grandchildren Henry and Cora. I feet, the requirement is forshrimp—those a 12-inch our scallops, crab, and products ce and will purple mark“lobster. near the include ” trap, a second 12- was away with friends in Portland, and The Singapore firm at h our inch Stephanie purple halfway to themeat buoy,since China has mark been creating faux the Han was away with friends in Maine. Dynasty, the meat and a 36-inch markmore nearthan the 2,000 buoy. years. Florida. Father and son work were inmimicking charge. dating back A soyoal of based “Yeah, we got doughnuts at The Bruce figures he will be putting 1,500 meat analogue known as tofu was touted of crustaceans grows stem onsid- as Jar and then walked to the to 1,800 his rope in all; twofirmCookie “smallmarkings mutton.on ” The Singapore at work n, but mimicking for a picnic and tocells throwfrom rocks.”real lobsters… to three weeks of extra work if he does beach the meat of crustaceans—Shiok Meats— virus- grows it without hiring A number of fish-as a Eating stem cellshelp. from real lobsters base for homemade donuts and time distilling ermen areprototypes applying paint to their ropes that have been underthrowing develop-rocks at the beach—if that t to it. ment isn’t a mirror image of many childby resting longcompany gutters released since them 2019. in Last3-foot fall, the the I can world’s made from PVC pipe.andhood on Islesford, I don’t firstlengthwise-halved cell-based “lobster meat” next summers year know what is. Bruce’s first attempt was with spray paint q plans to launch its take on “shrimp.” paint, but soon moved on to the more effi-lobster fishery Thehebest news for Maine’s struggling “time iscient and“meat” latex paint. Barbara Fernald lives on Islesford (Little thatbrush lobster unveiled in Singapore last fall e and Some fishermen will add a 3-foot Cranberry Island) with her husband Bruce.
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too well that climate change is slowly and gradually undermining Maine’s fisheries. As habitat for multiple seafood species, the Gulf of Maine has been deteriorating due to increasing water temperature and seawater acidity. Maine shrimp left for colder waters. Scallop populations have been compromised. Herring and cod have become scarce. While lobster remains to no small degree the most lucrative “cash crop” for Maine, preservation of right whales and other oceanic ecology issues present costly challenges. Not to mention bait and fuel. While there is a huge demand for Maine lobster in China and seasonally for holidays in Europe and other distant locales, the crustaceans need to arrive in kitchens around the world while still alive and kicking. That reality has become a growing challenge given the shipping distances involved and costs. Then there are little things, like trade tariffs. The bugs themselves, as a commodity, are low-cost compared to the ever-increasing costs of guaranteeing on-time, still-kicking delivery, given complicated and expensive international shipping logistics. Today almost every one of the too many food and cooking magazines includes a full-page ad for plantbased tuna, crab cakes, fish cakes, and fish burgers available online from the Good Catch website, which crows that “Plant-Based Seafood is now a Thing.” Each product is proudly billed as being “100 percent fish free” while also offering “real seafood taste” in terms of flavor, texture, and appearance. These fishless fish products are generally an amalgam of soybeans, vegetable oils, peas, yeast, gluten, and starches, often flavored with seaweed.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Rock Bound
Ships, the Suez Canal, and our three ports Transportation by water will be part of climate change fix By Tom Groening ASSUMING I HAVE your attention, I am now going to ask you to look up and around the room in which you are sitting. What percentage of the things in the room were once aboard a ship? Thirty-five percent? Fifty percent? Seventy percent? Experts put the answer at over 90 percent. Go beyond the furniture, light fixtures, carpet, and electronics and add the fuel that heats the room and the lumber and other materials that built it, and we’re well into the 90 percent range. This is why the container ship stuck in the Suez Canal was such a big story. So much of what we consume has, at least for part of its journey, been carried on a ship. As Mainers, we tend to be oblivious to how big a role this kind of transportation plays in our economy. We shouldn’t be. And I count myself in the oblivious category. Driving from my home in Belfast to the office in Rockland, I often see ships making their way up Penobscot Bay, probably bound for the
port at Searsport, but Bucksport and even Bangor have been destinations. But what’s in them? Where did they begin their journey? The state, back in the 1970s, wisely decided to focus its port investment funds in three areas: Eastport, Searsport, and Portland. Eastport, sadly, has lost its rail connection, a key component of a successful port. In Searsport, the state sought to develop a container port on Sears Island, but finally gave up that effort. The Mack Point facility in Searsport offloads heating oil, gasoline, salt for roads, tapioca and clay slurry for paper mills, and other chemical products. Fuels also come into South Portland, and Portland actually has healthy export activity, thanks in part to the presence of Icelandic firm Eimskip, which works in ports throughout the world. Eastport ships out woodchips and imports fish. Since all those goods in your room didn’t come in via Maine’s three ports, we must understand the ports at St. John, New Brunswick; Boston; Montreal; and New York as “our” ports, too.
When I was a kid, my family vacationed for a few summers at a campground on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. My father would take us out in his 14-foot aluminum boat, and my brothers and I thrilled to see the ships that would chug by us along the St. Lawrence Seaway, leaving or heading to the Midwest. Those ships—which probably were 300-feet or so long—would be dwarfed by today’s tankers and container vessels. I’ve wondered how the numbers make sense; what must it cost to build a ship that size, and what must be charged to carry freight? One part of the answer is something former Transportation Commissioner John Melrose told me years ago—shipping creates the smallest carbon footprint of all the major transport modes, and so the low-friction operation means relatively lower costs. The Portland port has marketed its services by noting that for about the same $2,000 that it costs to ship a container on the back of a truck to the mid-Atlantic states, a ship can carry that container to northern Europe and reach markets with millions more people.
Maine is a full day closer to European ports than New York and that fact makes our ports valuable. As ships get bigger, we must keep up with dredging and other improvements, or Maine’s economy risks being seen as the hotdog stand on the end of a dead-end road. Shipping also creates ancillary businesses like pilot and tug services, and those are no small nickel and dime activities. Yes our three ports are industrial in nature, and yes they carry the potential for environmental catastrophe. But they also strike a blow against climate change. Maine must resist any impulse to marginalize our ports and shipping, even as we continue to fight to protect our clean waters and the high quality of our coastal life. Tom Groening is editor of The Working Waterfront. He can be contacted at tgroening@islandinstitute.org
Reflections
Connection, as only music can provide it Playing and teaching violin to help harmonize community 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 Anne McKee ISLAND WINTERS are not for the faint of heart. My first winter on Islesboro was no exception. Frigid winds cancel the day’s ferry runs or shut off electricity. Driving sleet and rain make time outdoors more painful than joyful. Short, dark days have a way of affecting moods. At the beginning of my fellowship, a wise islander gave me some sage advice: the only way to make it through winter on Islesboro is to have a really good hobby. Like any tips on how to survive on an island, I listened closely. And so this winter I dove deeply into violin playing, a long-held passion I feared might wane in my post-college years. I began playing the violin at age four on a 1/16th sized violin. I can’t say I loved the instrument from the beginning, but it wasn’t long before I considered it a large part of my identity. As I grew older and my playing advanced,
I felt a desire to express my emotions through my music. And, most of all, it allowed me to connect with people in a meaningful and powerful way. As winter days on the island grew shorter, my hours of violin practice grew longer. I began to think of music as my daily meditation. But instead of focusing on my breath in meditation, I concentrate on the movement of my body as I play the violin. Sometimes I like to compare my bow vibrating my violin strings to a steady breath of air vibrating vocal cords. At other times, I am mesmerized by the resonance my violin produces when I hit a chord in perfect pitch. These days, I am absorbed in the Chaconne by Johann Sebastian Bach, a deeply spiritual masterpiece of solo violin repertoire. As I read Bach’s own handwriting, I am transported hundreds of years in the past and into his own fascinating mind. What a gift it is to spend nights like these exploring the wonders of music. I haven’t found a more perfect place to play the violin than peaceful, starry Islesboro. As I gaze up at the night sky through my skylight, I think about the connection the world has with music. Music binds us, without a single word. Music touches people deeply, with a unique
meaning for every listener. How brilliant it will be to share more music with the island as the world opens its arms again. Coming to Islesboro last fall, I wasn’t sure where music would wind its way into my life. Much of my work as an Island Fellow has to do with food sustainability, renewable energy, and supporting island youth—three areas I am passionate about but don’t explicitly involve music. Even during a pandemic, where live music is rare, I have found creative ways to musically connect with people on Islesboro. I have performed masked and over Zoom for two different churches. Last October, some friends and I put on an outdoor, socially distanced folk concert on my front deck. I often play for the Islesboro Community Center’s “Sundays at Seven” virtual performance series, both on my own and with other islanders. On violin and viola, I contributed to a heartwarming community recording project. As things become safer, I look forward to performing for Boardman Cottage, the assisted living residence on Islesboro. Living on Islesboro has also instilled in me a passion for music teaching. Thanks to the Island Institute and Islesboro Community Center, I was able to take online violin teacher training courses
that encourage children to learn music by listening, just as they learn a native language. At Islesboro Central School, I help teach violin to fourth and fifth grade classes weekly, as well as play with the high school band. I look forward to teaching free private violin lessons for kids and adults at the community center later in my fellowship. For me, music is all about connection. Connection with my inner self, making me a more present and grounded person. Connection through teaching, spreading my love for music to learners of all ages. And connection with community, sharing my music through an unprecedented time in human history. It is truly a gift to play music on Islesboro. Anne McKee grew up in Hallowell and recently graduated from Bowdoin College with a major in history and environmental studies and a minor in Japanese. She works with the Islesboro Community Center and Islesboro Central School on sustainability and energy systems.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
9
BETTE ON THE BEACH— Yes, that’s actress Bette Davis posing with her fellow lifeguards in Ogunquit, circa 1926. Davis vacationed in the area with her family and took the job to keep busy. Years later, she and her then husband, actor Gary Merrill, lived in Cape Elizabeth. Thanks to Bryce Waldrop, administrator and curator of the Historical Society of Wells & Ogunquit for the photo.
Op-Ed
Our waterfronts deliver the perfect superfood It’s time for a renewed effort to protect fishing access By Ben Martens OVER THE PAST YEAR there has been renewed focus on the value of infrastructure. Transportation, health, information, electrical, and even the food system’s infrastructures have all been stressed, tested, and failed as we collectively experienced the fallout from years of undervaluing and underfunding the foundational elements that keep our society safe, healthy, and connected. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the infrastructure around our food was in much worse shape than we ever could have imagined. It took only a few disruptions in disparate parts of the world to not just leave our supermarket shelves bare of toilet paper, but also of many food staples we have come to rely upon. Fortunately, when chicken, pork, and beef could not be found, Maine’s working waterfronts were able to supply folks with fresh fish, oysters, scallops, and lobsters to help relieve some of the building pressure (and fear) that came from empty supermarkets. The marine resources of the Gulf of Maine hold a fantastic opportunity for Maine, and the working waterfront is our entryway to the cold, clean waters of the Atlantic. Working waterfronts are an overlooked and oft forgotten part of Maine’s local and regional food system infrastructure, and 2020 was a stark reminder that working waterfront preservation must be a priority as we look to the future. Hundreds of millions of pounds of some of the best food in the world are carried across our docks by the salty, calloused hands of Maine seafood harvesters, 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)
yet there are few resources available for protecting or investing in working waterfront properties. Despite what Netflix’s Seaspiracy and other alarmist documentaries may lead you to believe, Maine seafood is healthy, sustainable, delicious, and an excellent choice for your next meal. It does not require any fresh water to grow, it is free of added hormones and antibiotics, it is beneficial for your brain, and has numerous crucial micronutrients for your body. To put it simply, seafood is one of the world’s most perfect superfoods, and Maine’s working waterfront holds the key to accessing it. From an economics perspective, seafood is growing in demand around the world and is a premium product emblematic of Maine. The coastal communities throughout our state have the core competencies to perfectly embrace the opportunity of seafood if we put in the work now to protect that future. But, just as the pandemic brought more neighbors to the working waterfront for seafood, it also brought new development pressure to our coast as remote work and the exodus from city life has made Maine more of a destination than ever. In many of Maine’s coastal communities, a combination of increasing property values and the transition of property away from traditional fishery uses means that we are on the cusp of losing important working waterfront, big, small, and discrete throughout the state. While Maine is known for its abundant coastline, a shockingly small portion of it, just shy of 20 miles, is considered “working waterfront.” Additionally, only a fraction of that is directly related to fisheries, aquaculture, and food production. Organizations like
the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association have been fighting for better regulations and science to rebuild our Gulf of Maine resources but if we’re losing local access all those efforts will be for nought. One of the only tools we have in our toolbox to protect working waterfront properties in Maine comes from the Land for Maine’s Future Program (LMF). LMF buys up development rights for working waterfront, which gives a much-needed injection of capital into the property, while also ensuring that the working waterfront is not sold away for condos, houses, or hotels. This year, MCFA is working with partners from throughout the state to advocate for the refunding of the LMF program to ensure that our fishermen, aquaculturists, and fishing communities have the infrastructure they need to keep harvesting the best seafood in the world. But we can’t do it alone. We need your help and support. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was that we witnessed our greatest infrastructure, our communities, band together through a time of need to hold each other up. Buying Maine seafood and supporting the organizations doing important work along our coast are little things you can do every day. Additionally, letting your legislators know that the working waterfront and funding the LMF program to protect it are crucial to Maine’s future is a concrete action we can support today. For information about specific opportunities where your voice is important you can visit mainecoastfishermen.org. Ben Martens is executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
THE WORKING WATERFRONT
Published by the Island Institute, a non-profit organization that works to sustain Maine's island and coastal communities, and exchanges ideas and experiences to further the sustainability of communities here and elsewhere. All members of the Island Institute and residents of Maine island communities receive monthly mail delivery of The Working Waterfront. For home delivery: Join the Island Institute by calling our office at (207) 594-9209 E-mail us: membership@islandinstitute.org • Visit us online: giving.islandinstitute.org
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
On the record with…
Sebastian Belle of the Maine Aquaculture Association Strong growth potential, but shorefront opposition remains By Tom Groening
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Eastport, where salmon has become part of that community; Damariscotta, where oyster farming has become part of that community; as well as Downeast, where mussel and oyster growing has become more obvious in those communities.
hen it comes to aquaculture, it would be hard to top Sebastian Belle’s resumé. Belle, 62, earned a degree in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, fished offshore for a time, then moved to Europe. WW: You mention mussels and seaweed and “I was able to get a job in Norway on an aquaculture oysters—are there any particular products in the farm,” he recalls. “I happened to be in the right place live market that seem to be poised for real success at the right time. That was in the very early days of the more than others? I know that kelp has come on salmon industry, and they were making a lot of money the scene most recently, but is there anything you and investing it all around the world, and they sent me think would be “hot” in the market going forward? all around the world, building projects,” raising salmon, shrimp, trout, and scallops. BELLE: Kelp is hot. It is quite astounding to see the Belle returned to Maine and moved to Eastport, where growth there in terms of pounds of product. If you he managed a series of salmon farms for five years, then look at what is being put out in the water in seeded worked at Boston’s New England Aquarium for five years line, you’re looking at quite a substantial increase. in research and development for farming bluefin tuna. There’s tremendous opportunity for growth in Then it was back overseas to build tuna farms in Spain, mussels on the coast of Maine. We have incredible France, Mexico, and Australia. growing conditions. The mussels that are produced Sebastian Belle is executive director of the Maine “And then I came back. Angus King pestered me here, people absolutely love and pay a lot of money Aquaculture Association. enough,” he laughs, saying the then-governor “wanted for. And then oysters, I think there’s still opportuPHOTO: COURTESY MAINE AQUACULTURE ASSOCIATION private sector people to come work in state government.” nity there. The challenge is the COVID-19 situaBelle became a senior policy advisor on aquaculture for tion has put a hurt on the oyster markets because the Department of Marine Resources. He also served on many people don’t know how to shuck them. the board of the Maine Aquaculture Association, which was founded in 1977. They’re used to going to restaurants to buy them, but if they have to shuck them In 2000, as aquaculture faced criticism in many circles, he remembers being themselves, that is a bit of a barrier. “pretty frustrated in telling our side of the story. We were always seemingly in The exciting thing about the seafood sector in general, with respect to COVID, defensive mode.” Those at the association challenged him to help, and Belle joined is we’ve seen a 30-45 percent increase in retail sales in this country. To have that as executive director. level of increase in a food sector in one year is astounding. That was obviously The following interview was edited for length and clarity. offset by the virtual collapse in the restaurant sector. The fact that 80 percent of seafood in this country was consumed in restaurants THE WORKING WATERFRONT: Would you characterize the state of aquaculture pre-COVID meant that everybody took a huge hit. What we are cautiously hopeful for—all of us in the seafood sector—is that in Maine now as kind of a second boom from those late ‘80s, early ‘90s years? those retail sales will hold once we get past COVID, and the restaurant sales will BELLE: I wouldn’t call it a boom. We had a period where we were flat. We did not rebound. Maine should be very well positioned to capitalize on that. increase our acreage or the number of farms significantly for almost a 20-year period. There was an initial growth period where we grew from about 20 or 30 WW: The industry had sort of a black eye at some point. It seemed to me that acres to 600 acres in the late ‘70s to the mid-‘80s. Then it stayed flat. in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, there was a public pushback on feed, and feces going We had another expansion to around 1,200 acres, and we stayed at that for ten onto the bottom, gear breaking apart and ending up on beaches. To what do you or 15 years. Now we have grown 400-450 acres in the last ten years or so. attribute that? Was it under-regulation, or a goldrush mentality? The U.S. aquaculture sector has actually contracted slightly over the last 20 years, driven mostly by the contraction in the catfish industry. Our growth rate BELLE: All the stuff you allude to was the product of young people learning as they nationally for the last 20 years has been about 1 percent. The growth rate for the were going. And we made mistakes. We made lots of them. One of the reasons we last 20 years in Maine has been roughly 2 percent per year. But the founded the training academies was to try to help new farmers not growth rate internationally has been 8 percent per year. make those mistakes. The thing that has caught people’s eyes is the number of limited The industry in Maine is actually regulated quite heavily. If you “There’s no purpose aquaculture licenses, the LPAs. Those are 400 square feet, look at the legislative history in Maine, there has not been a year designed to allow somebody to try aquaculture, or to prospect in question there’s where there have not been significant changes. The kinds of concerns an area. Those numbers have increased quite significantly. The that are being voiced now are no different than those articulated in demand. We can the past. And they are generally driven by an individual lease appliprogram was created about ten years ago, and in the first year we had five, and now there are, I think, 700-plus. But if you add up the cation where somebody who owns a very nice house on the shore sell everything acres, that’s roughly seven additional acres. decides they don’t want that farm in front of their house. we grow…” LPAs have lowered the barrier to entry, particularly for small Opponents realized that opposing a farm because of view scape owner-operators. Some will become commercial farms, and some impacts was not going to cut it in front of the legislature or the won’t. The maximum you can have is four LPAs. resource management agencies. So they started organizing the local Some of this growth has been driven by the training academies fishing community. And I would suggest it was a very cynical and we’ve been running for almost 15 years, in cooperation with Sea Grant and the premeditated method to use one working waterfront community against another. Island Institute. Roughly 300 people have been through those programs, and about 60 percent have started at some level in aquaculture. WW: Lobstermen see aquaculture as a threat to their fishing grounds. What are they missing if it is really not a threat? WW: Does the international growth rate of 8 percent suggest to you that there is the opportunity for a lot more growth in Maine? BELLE: They’re being told it’s a threat by opposition groups. They need to go read the rules. If there’s a significant fishery there, no one’s going to get a lease. There’s BELLE: There’s no question there’s demand. We can sell everything we grow—an been a very intentional strategy to scare people to say, “One person can own up to oyster, or a mussel, or a salmon, or a seaweed—between 10 and 20 percent more 1,000 acres.” It’s just not true. than our competitors. We have an advantage in the fresh market—which is essentially Chicago, east WW: DMR has a bill before the legislature this session. What are the highlights? and Atlanta, north—that’s between 120 and 130 million consumers. We can get product to market, in that big circle, within 24 hours. BELLE: The LPA (limited-purpose aquaculture) system has been very effective, Will we be able to get social license to build farms? There’s certainly plenty of but people have used it to “game” the leasing system. So what you’ll get is a family space. We’re currently at almost 1,700 acres out of about 3 million acres in state where dad has four LPAs, mom has four LPAs, the two kids will have four… And waters. As of last year, we had an aquaculture facility in every town on the coast suddenly, you have what is effectively a commercial operation. of Maine. We went to the department several years ago, and the department had been In most of those communities, with very few exceptions, you wouldn’t know thinking the same thing. The LPA holder has to be present while the assistant is those farms were there. They’re relatively small scale. The exceptions would be there, and there can be up to four assistants.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
11
On the record with…
David Hopkins, chair of Maine Arts Commission Arts poised to return to life, and live By Carl Little
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orn in Bangor in 1953, David Hopkins grew up on North Haven Island. When he was 14 and his brother, painter Eric Hopkins, was 16, they asked their parents if they could open an art gallery on the family’s Hopkins Wharf. That was the beginning of a life-long connection for both with the art world. In David’s case, that life included working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 30 years. He started with the King Tut exhibition in 1979 and went on to help set up satellite Met shops across the country. Along the way he studied archeology at Syracuse; took part in digs in London (where he met his life partner, artist David Wilson) and Puebla, Mexico; and, upon retiring in 2010 from the Met, returned to run the gallery on North Haven while consulting on museum retail. He also manages the gift shop his mother June Hopkins (1923-2015) ran for over 60 years. Hopkins has served on boards for the Farnsworth Museum, Waterman’s Community Center on North Haven, and the North Haven Historical Society. He also was a commissioner of the Maine State Museum. Last March, Gov. Janet Mills appointed Hopkins chair of the Maine Arts Commission board. We caught up with Hopkins by email recently. The following interview has been edited for length. THE WORKING WATERFRONT: What’s your take on the Maine art scene during the pandemic? How is it faring? How are artists and arts organizations getting by?
HOPKINS: This has been a very tough year for everyone. Artists in every field have been some of the worst affected by the financial downturn. Museums and performing arts centers have had to close their doors. It is times like these that I am reminded of the quote by Toni Morrison: “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” While there is no substitute for an in-person experience of any art form, creativity has endured. Waterman’s Community Center on North Haven has always held a summer theater production. With the theatre space closed, the drama program was able to produce a play Do You Read Me? by Kathryn Funkhouser that is set on a space station. This was the first play rehearsed, produced, and performed through Zoom, and with plenty of challenges. Luckily, the technical quirks could be blamed on the difficulty of transmitting live theater from outer space! Artists’ greatest asset is their resilience, finding and highlighting the quality of
life, offering hope to those around them, and encouraging humanity to flourish.
the pandemic? Could you highlight a few new or reimagined programs?
WW: How do Mainers value art?
HOPKINS: Our small agency has been working hard through COVID to try to respond to the many needs of individuals and organizations. Thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, budget savings, and other small sources of funding, we have been able to grant just over $600,000 additional dollars for COVID relief. The need is great right now. Even as the spring and summer come and opportunities for opening small and outdoor venues arise, we all know that we’re still a long way away from packed houses at theaters across the state, large crowd openings at museums or galleries, or even the very popular social atmosphere of art walks or community festivals of the arts that bring Mainers together to celebrate our culture.
HOPKINS: I feel the value of art begins with a sense of place. Living in and connecting with that place defines our creativity and our spirit. Maine’s Native people understood that living here was challenging, and through ingenuity and perseverance they adapted and survived on this land for thousands of years. The objects they made to survive are wondrous to see and understand how they were used. As other people immigrated to this “place,” they, too, adapted to living here. The architecture, furniture, boats, tools of trades such as lumbering, harvesting of ice, farming, fishing, and shipping all required hard work and creativity. Maine boat builders have built beauty in their boats—it comes from within them. The stone cutters that came from Europe brought with them so many skills. I often think of the well-known story about three people who worked in a quarry. All asked what they did for a job. The first said he just worked in a quarry cutting stones. The second said he prepared building materials, and the third said, “I build cathedrals.” We can all aspire to the vision of the third worker. WW: How does art fit into the Maine economy? HOPKINS: It is integral to it. It is a growth
industry. My hope is to see a thriving creative economy and I hope the Maine Art Commission can act as a catalyst for that. A vibrant creative economy encourages people to want to live here. How has the Maine Arts Commission handled the challenges of WW:
WW: What are the challenges/ rewards of managing an island gallery, pandemic or not? HOPKINS: Last spring at the start of the pandemic there was an overwhelming sense of gloom. It seemed the season was to be a washout. For a few months everything ground to a halt. What if we mounted an exhibition and nobody came? How could we keep the lights on with no sales? Fortunately, this did not prove to be the case. We followed all the rules to maintain a safe space. By creating a better website, we were able to generate more interest. By opening a new gallery in our ice house, we were able to present more work in an airy space with lots of room for social distancing. The rewards of personal interaction, meeting people and bonding over
David Hopkins
an appreciation and discussion of creativity far outweigh the challenges. WW: What is your fondest postpandemic wish? HOPKINS: Hugging friends, visiting museums, attending live events, theater, concerts, and movies are all on the list. My fondest wish, however, might be an end to division and a return to some sense of a common cause. A naive idea perhaps but living through this pandemic has highlighted the need and desire for a sense of unity. Additional funding for arts and education, from all sources, is needed to make our world a better place. Or as the third quarry worker said: “I build cathedrals”! WW: You once stated that the Fox Islands are the center of the universe. Still true? HOPKINS: For me, indisputable! I have been “pinned” to this place. My heart and soul are here. It is my center.
For more information, see: mainearts. maine.gov and hopkinswharfgallery.com. Carl Little’s latest book, Mary Alice Treworgy: A Maine Painter, is forthcoming this summer.
MORE THAN A STORE 1,500
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PHOTO: COURTESY DAVID HOPKINS
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Andrew Bertrand holds a starfish.
Capt. Ralph Smith of Moosabec Mussels aboard this boat Midnight Star.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
Pulling mussels off the drag.
Andrew Bertrand hauls a bag of mussels.
Draggin’ the line The ‘mussel’ men of Moosabec Mussels
Capt. Ralph Smith owns and operates Moosabec Mussels, a three-generation business launched in 1982. The product is distributed nation-wide.
PHOTO ESSAY BY LESLIE BOWMAN
Alex Johnson carries a bag.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Our Island Communities
A trail leading into Littlefield Woods. PHOTO: JODI FEDERLE
INSET: Colleen Rich Jones, and Alice Doughty Lefebvre at the pond in the mid-1950s. PHOTO: COURTESY DONNA DAMON
Properties of ‘significant value’ conserved on Chebeague Littlefield Woods plays role in island acquifer, generations enjoy pond
M
arch was a banner month for the Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust (CCLT) as the organization protected two properties with significant value to the Chebeague Island community. On March 3, the trust purchased a 24.3-acre forest in the center of the island known as Littlefield Woods, and on March 15 it accepted the donation of Chebeague’s treasured skating pond and land surrounding it. Protecting Littlefield Woods was a top priority for the land trust because it is a portion of the largest remaining block of forest on the island and features critical wildlife habitat, a popular and well-established system of trails, and essential wetlands. Perhaps most importantly, the intact forest plays a critical role in sustaining the island’s sole-source aquifer. The parcel’s historic cart trails and the remnants of a thriving neighborhood date back to the 18th century. “Knowing that Littlefield Woods will be protected for future generations is so exciting to me,” said Beverly Johnson, a Chebeague resident who has spent countless hours on the property, including with students from the Chebeague Island School studying ecology. “It is a true treasure that will benefit the island in more ways than we can even imagine right now.” Littlefield Woods connects to the Durgin Trail, which was protected by a trail easement acquired by the trust in 2017 by a gift from Marianne Durgin. “CCLT’s long-term strategic vision is to develop a system of connected properties and trails for the island that are protected forever,” said Chris Cabot, the trust’s executive director. “The preservation of Littlefield Woods and all that it provides for the island is of historic importance.” The trust embarked on the campaign to purchase
Littlefield Woods in March 2020. Some 174 households and seven grant funders contributed to make the purchase possible. “Everyone pulled together, and thanks must be paid to Penny Asherman, the board president, and Diane Lukac, co-chair of acquisitions, who led the fundraising on this project, the largest ever undertaken on the island by CCLT,” said Cabot. “The entire community of Chebeague came out to support this project,” said Lukac. “The support was overwhelming and demonstrates how important this parcel is to the heart and soul of the island.” The property was owned by Leila and Suhail Bisharat, who sold the property to the trust for a price well below market. Leila served on CCLT’s board of directors for many years and her father, Blanchard Bates, was one of the original founders of CCLT. The family’s wish was to see the land protected. “It means a great deal to Leila and myself to have the woods protected in perpetuity as a tribute to Blanchard Bates,” said Suhail Bisharat. “I come from a region that suffers water shortages and lack of trees. I was blessed to come here and make Chebeague my home.” Less than two weeks later, on March 15, CCLT accepted the donation of Sanford’s Pond, Chebeague’s historic skating pond, from Jackie Trask. Jackie’s parents, Sanford and Mabel Doughty, were legendary figures on Chebeague Island. Among many other pursuits, Mabel helped to found CCLT, and Sanford created and maintained the pond. Trask wanted to ensure that the pond remained preserved in perpetuity for the community and approached CCLT about a gift. “My parents would be very excited to know that this property is protected,” said Trask. “This donation of a part of my property reflects the spirit of generosity that they instilled in me. I am happy to work
with CCLT to ensure that this pond will be accessible for years to come.” Along with the pond, Trask gave the trust a halfacre of land and a strip of land to provide access to the shore at Bennett’s Cove. The protection of the pond means more than just skating. In the summer months, the pond and its interior island and shoreline has the potential to serve as an environmental education site where amphibians come alive and birds flock to breed. “Both Sanford’s Pond and Littlefield Woods are engrained in the fabric of the island community and needed to be protected,” said Cabot. “Land trusts are increasingly turning their attention to communitydriven projects like these that provide ecological value, essential resource protection, and invaluable access to outdoor spaces.” The pond was created and kept operational as an iceskating destination for islanders by Sanford Doughty, a fisherman who was well-known along the coast. When he sold his boat in retirement, Doughty dedicated himself to creating the pond, and then keeping it in excellent shape for skating, including dredging it when necessary. With the help of many volunteers, Sanford and Mabel built a warming hut and established an island-wide bottle redemption system to both clean up the island and fund the purchase of a skate sharpener and skating equipment to ensure that enough skates were available at the pond for anyone who needed them. CCLT received generous support for the Littlefield Woods project from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Davis Conservation Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Margaret Burnham Charitable Trust, and The Recompense Fund.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
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What World War II meant to Monhegan New interactive museum exhibit explores history this summer
T
he Second World War had a dramatic impact on the everyday lives of people across the country, and while far from the fighting, the residents of Maine’s remote offshore islands also were profoundly affected by the war overseas. The multimedia online exhibition World War II: On-Island and Abroad incorporates oral histories, artwork, letters, memoirs, film footage, and newspaper clippings to tell the stories of the islanders who went to war, and those who remained on-island. Before the U.S. entered the war, Monhegan Island residents were well aware of the growing threat as a U.S. military presence became ever more apparent in the sky and sea around the island. With a year-round population of only 97 at that time, Monhegan sent 14 men to fight abroad, some enlisting directly from high school. The Monhegan residents who remained behind united in support of the war and actively engaged in civil defense through enforced blackouts, support of war bonds/loans, engagement in the Red Cross, and other activities. With the country at war, the light and fog keepers of Monhegan were under the control of the U.S. Navy, and Coast Guard troops were stationed in the lighthouse and patrolled the backside of the island, punching in at a checkpoint built on Whitehead. Fewer summer residents and visitors came during the war years, and some year-round residents left the island. After the war, change came in many ways, with several war veterans making their home on Monhegan after connecting with islanders they met while abroad. World War II: On-Island and Abroad has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. The Monhegan Museum of Art & History is located in the historic Monhegan Island Light Station, 12 nautical miles off the coast of Maine. The Monhegan Lighthouse Keeper’s House contains exhibits of Monhegan’s history and the Assistant Keeper’s House has an art gallery that features exhibitions from the museum’s art collection, which spans more than 150 years. Additionally, the Rockwell Kent/James Fitzgerald Historic Artists’ Home and Studio display a collection of works by Fitzgerald.
Sherm and Alfred Stanley, June 1944.
PHOTO: COURTESY MONHEGAN MUSEUM
The museum is open daily from June 24 through Sept. 30, during which time the Kent/Fitzgerald Home and Studio are open two days a week and by appointment. For more information see: www.monheganmuseum.org Allen_Islesboro_Insurance4.75x3.5_092720_B.qxp_Layout 1 9/27/20 12:30 PM Page 1
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Book Reviews
Plenty of grit in the women who lobster No longer a rarity, women in Maine fishery are thriving
Pretty Rugged: True Stories From Women of the Sea By Ali Farrell Sea Street Publishing, Camden, Maine: 2020
Review by Tina Cohen
T
his is a book about women who lobster, and it is about the grit of these fishermen (the term has become gender-neutral). Nothing is prettied up here. Author Ali Farrell interviewed 26 women working in Maine who share their insights and experience. Navigational aids like a table of contents are curiously missing so we don’t easily know who is profiled, and a map showing their home ports would have been helpful, too. Each interview includes photographs, personal stories, and facts about the work. The women range in age, culminating with 100-year old Virginia Oliver of Spruce Head. Most of the women here are captains; one also raises oysters and another grows kelp. And there are a lot of moms, some raising kids on their own. Genevieve McDonald captains her boat out of Stonington but might be familiar because of her other gig, a member
of the Maine House of Representatives. Eighteen Chix Who Fish and heard from over 400 women. Foul harbors are represented, spread between the Midcoast weather gear, designed for men and fitting women poorly was one common complaint. After voicing that and Downeast, including many islands. Lobstermen who captain boats typically own their to Grundens, in 2014 the company released a women’s vessel and have a lot of training before becoming line of gear. McDonald saw it as “recognition women licensed. They steer, chart a course, haul traps, and were a significant part of their market.” We hear from Yvonne Rosen of Vinalhaven, known know some engine repair and boat maintenance. Once patrilineal (passed from fathers to sons), as Beba, who reflects on what it means to her to be a lobstering has begun to change. Nineteen of these 26 captain: “It’s more than a lifestyle, it’s my life. It’s about the only thing that really brings me real joy, started as youngsters going out on their being out on my boat working. I’ve proved dad’s or grandfather’s boat. Now, many myself and I’ve earned the respect of my are hiring female crew and bringing Now, many fellow fishermen by just working hard and onboard their family members. The myth are hiring respecting the ocean and the industry.” that women couldn’t or wouldn’t want to Lobstermen sometimes indulge in do it—be strong enough to haul, tough female crew pranks, and while some jokes smack of enough to survive in a male-dominated and bringing male locker room humor, the women find industry—has been resoundingly refuted. ways to handle it—literally. Beba rememonboard Genevieve McDonald’s fishing career bers finding an inflatable doll floating was born from a bar bet. In her profile, she their family in the water. In the spirit of sharing an expounds on her experience. “My fellow members. impressive catch—say, a blue lobster—she fishermen have treated me the same way took it to the buying station where it was they would any other crewman or captain. promptly put on display, gaining an appreWhere it becomes obvious I am a woman ciative audience. “They all got a good laugh. It stayed in a male-dominated industry is off the water.” She experiences sexism in the “institutions that up for a long time too.” Another important quality for lobstermen is surround fishing: the loan officer who denied my first boat loan after stating he wasn’t sure I was serious resilience. They are witnessing a warming ocean, about fishing and should use my college degree; government regulations that could limit fishing, and every salesman who has looked past me at a trade international politics that can impact tariffs and trade show; the marine patrol officer who answered my deals. And the work is dangerous. Farrell reminds us questions as though I had never set foot on a boat; the that commercial fishing is the “deadliest job in the U.S.” Hopefully some lucky girls will have this book reporters who only wanted to talk about my gender and not the issues the fishing industry is facing; every come their way, with its empowering attitude so time someone assumed I was the crew, and not the enthusiastically conveyed. But anyone curious about this life will find the coverage interesting. captain, of my vessel.” The book is available for purchase on Amazon and She concludes: “The women and men who work in the fisheries treat each other with respect and appreciation, PrettyRuggedBook.com. and those who service the industry ought to as well.” In frustration, she started a social media project dubbed Tina Cohen is a seasonal resident of Vinalhaven.
Telling stories about the birds
More reporting than guide, Acadia’s Birds a year-long immersion Little Big Year: Chasing Acadia’s Birds By Richard Wayne MacDonald
Review by Carl Little
B
irds, says field biologist Richard MacDonald of Bar Harbor, have been “a unifying theme” in his life. At age ten MacDonald was banding ducks and in college he carried binoculars wherever he went. He spent time monitoring birds for High Peaks Audubon on Lake Champlain. And for the past several decades he has led birding expeditions, local and way away (Antarctica), while running the Natural History Center on Mount Desert Island. His license plate reads GANNET. In 2018, in honor of the 100th anniversary of ratification, by the U.S., of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, MacDonald set himself a goal: to identify as many species of birds as possible in Hancock County. His “little big year” was not, he avers, a competition, but rather about learning while “wholly immersing” himself in an ecology that makes him “immensely happy.” Little Big Year: Chasing Acadia’s Birds (paperback, 467 pp., $19.95) chronicles that ambitious feat of avian
identification. Starting on a bitterly cold Jan. 1, date of the annual Schoodic Christmas Bird Count, he recounts in a diary format his sightings. Fittingly, the first species jotted down is the Maine state bird, the black-capped chickadee. MacDonald is a natural storyteller, a skill honed by years of leading fellow bird aficionados on wild snow-goose chases. He can be self-deprecating and funny, then informative and serious. His cultural references are often entertaining: “If red-breasted mergansers, with the spiky feather crests, are the punk rockers of the bird world, then the male hooded merganser is Marie Antoinette or Jackie Kennedy, all sharing a bouffant headdress.” In addition to sharing in MacDonald’s excitement at adding birds to his list—he often resorts to exclamation points as in “horned lark!”—the reader learns fascinating facts about regional birds, natural history, and the evolution of birding. He revisits some feelgood stories, like the revival of the Atlantic puffin in Maine, while highlighting a few of the negatives, including cat predation and the Trump administration’s rollback of regulations.
“So much of bird-watching could more aptly be labeled bird-listening,” MacDonald notes at one point. Long-tailed ducks repeat ararat, mount ararat while the northern saw-whet owl features what he calls a “back-up beeper call” consisting of toot repeated with regular syncopation. He explains that birds can have regional dialects. MacDonald also promotes eBird, the “citizen science portal” for collecting bird observations, and reviews bird guides (“they are all good,” he declares diplomatically). The timing of the publication of Little Big Year: Chasing Acadia’s Birds is impeccable. With the increased interest in birding brought about by the pandemic, MacDonald’s book is bound to attract a larger readership as everyone seeks away-from-crowds pursuits. Residents of Hancock County are especially fortunate: The author shares all the best spots for finding birds. Whether it’s a homely turkey vulture or the “charismatic megafauna” snowy owl, MacDonald greets every bird with affection and respect. “I believe that birding can be a gateway to the greater good of environmental conservation,” he states. This book backs him up, beautifully. Carl Little writes about art and reviews books for several publications. He lives on Mount Desert Island.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
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World Ocean Observatory Designing the Places where you want to be.
Organization within chaos is the ocean’s nature
Understanding its challenges impart broader lessons
For your legacy home
By Peter Neill OBSERVING THE OCEAN is to look for systems, myriad details in flux, each and every one, be it animal, vegetable, or data number, a microscopic part of a complex unit, each unit again a part of a system more complex. The ocean in a storm appears chaotic, in the air above and on the surface sea, and below, where forces fight and unite, itself part of a larger and more complicated system that in the specific and the general is elemental and universal. Chaos as a subject of study as a mathematical, Each one of them, and each one of us is philosophical, or natural phenomenon informs our understanding of how the world works. Ironically, searching for “the knowledge of things…(laid) what seems disconnected and contradictory is actu- round but unperceived.” A virus springs from nowhere and infects ally integrated and harmonious within our physical world, our studies of meaning, and our perceptions millions. A toxin triggers an algae bloom and of the social and political mechanics of our existence. millions also die. Emissions from the stacks The best visualizations of this complexity are the of energy and consumption poison millions of insects, birds, plants, trees, small bifurcating diagrams of contiamphibians, oceanic creatures, our nental watersheds in North water, our children through invisAmerica, Europe, and the Indus It may be that ible acidification in that “shadowValley. They resemble with less atmosphere” where eventually uncanny similarity the maps of we can never there is no oxygen, no oscillating the capillaries, veins, arteries, capture by poetry light, no life. interconnected organs, muscles, Problems abound, challenges sinews, synapses, heart, and or science … this recur, the world cries out for order brain of the human body, a vast ocean of life... as the solution for disorder, a complexity that exists as one suspended moment in time when system, one human, that singular things seemed clear, but weren’t, an being individual, but a part of a friendship, a team, a marriage, a family, a community, answer to so many questions that frustratingly a nation, a global inclusivity that is the macrocosm in change in size and color and consequence every day. What to do? which we live, in a flow, one moment at a time. We need to simplify our strategy for living. Wallace Stevens, in his poem, “The Solitude of We need to address, each of us, one problem at Cataracts,” describes it this way: a time. There are certainly plenty to go round. Again, the ocean provides one place to engage. The flecked river, Fresh approaches, new technologies, novel Which kept flowing and never the same way twice, ideas, and viable alternatives will be explored flowing in an oceanic flow, to introduce examples of Through many places, as if it stood still in one ingenuity and invention into the conversaThat, in the shadowless atmosphere, tion, into the stream, as one voice amplifying The knowledge of things lay round but unperceived. other voices joined in a chorus of possiIt may be that we can never capture by poetry or bility and systematic engagement with the science the true dimension of this condition, this ocean, not as chaos, but as a complex system ocean of life, however placid or chaotic it appears to of simple behaviors, as a simple system of complex behaviors be. But it seems a fundamental need for us to try. “Many places,” Stevens writes, “as if … stood When I look at Stevens’ river, descending its complex paths to the coast and open sea, I see path- still in one.” ways through chaos, an itinerary of experience and speculation, risky, uncertain, a pursuit of answers to Peter Neill is director of the World Ocean problems that confront me every step of the way. Observatory, which produces weekly radio An astronomer confronts a black hole. An oceanog- essays heard on WERU-FM, 89.9, on podcast rapher confronts a blue hole of unexpected depth. A at apple.com/us/podcast/world-oceanpolitician looks at a system of injustice, racial bias, and radio/id425361249, and at http://www. conflicting interests and strives for an effective equi- worldoceanobservatory.org/world-oceantable policy to address complexity, chaos, in the streets. radio. He lives in Sedgwick.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Saltwater Cure
‘Lost and found’ a metaphor for this year Casual hike provides unexpected paths on North Haven By Courtney Naliboff I pulled out my laptop to write just now and asked my six-year-old what this month’s column should be about. I had some vague ideas around maybe the virtual one-acts festival my students participated in back in March, or an ode to my greenhouse, which currently has the first tiny brassica and pea shoots germinating despite the raw cold snap which ushered in April. But she suggested I write about an adventure, and when I asked which adventure, she reminded me of a particularly unexpected one, from the summer of 2019. And as it’s not only a pretty good story, but a pretty good metaphor; I’ll share it with you now. It was a balmy day, and Bill had gone over to Vinalhaven to teach a summer music camp session. Penrose and I had been tasked with a trip to the transfer station to drop off the trash and recycling. When we arrived, with our dachshund Claude in the car, the container was being switched out and we were told to come back in 20 minutes. The transfer station is up on the island’s North Shore, an extremely
scenic stretch of road, and not too far from the North Shore Preserve trail which I’ve written about here before. I decided a short hike would be a great way to fill the time while we waited for the container switch, so I drove us a little further down the road and kid, dog, and parent hopped out of the car. We took off down the grassy path, emerging at the dramatic overlook and picnic table. We bore left along the cliff walk, then followed a path through the grass. The trail loops back around fairly quickly, and at that time banked up a steep hill via a built in staircase. We walked on. No staircase. We kept going. The path turned into… less of a path. More of a deer run. And then less of a deer run and more of a bushwhack. I had somehow gotten lost. On North Haven. With a small dog and a small child. We were too far in to turn around, and I was nervous that we wouldn’t be able to retrace our steps back to the path. The ocean was still on our right, so I figured we were at least heading towards civilization somehow. I checked in with Pen. She was annoyed, but willing to keep going.
We pressed on through raspberry brambles and prickly baby spruce. I spotted a beach up ahead, which seemed promising. We clambered down the muddy, eroded slope down to the pebbles and sand. A ladder led up the opposite bank, which seemed to hint at some sort of end to our unexpected adventure. We climbed up and spotted a house and car in the distance. There had been a house and a car at the start of our hike, so maybe, somehow, we hadn’t been lost at all! Of course not. This was a completely different house and car. Where on the island had we emerged? How would we get back to our car, wherever it was? We walked up the lawn, relieved at least to no longer be in the woods. We had found a road, but what road? I picked Claude up—not expecting a walk, I hadn’t brought his leash—and we wandered, trying to get our bearings. After a few hot, anxious minutes we spotted another car, this one filled with familiar faces. We trotted after them and flagged them down. We were saved! They obligingly gave us a ride back to the trailhead, and Pen happily recounted her travails to her classmate in the backseat.
We went through the transfer station on our way home, as I puzzled over my wrong turn and where we had emerged. We had started with good intentions and a clear vision for the afternoon and wound up in a surprisingly dicey situation which fortunately had a good outcome. Even in the most familiar of settings, getting lost and turned around was still, it turned out, possible. Not to belabor a point, but much about our bushwhack reminds me of the last year and change. We set out with clear intentions, we made wrong turns. We were in the wilderness. We relied on the good will of others. And while we don’t yet know where we will emerge, we are beginning to see the opening of the road ahead. How will we recount this story? What will we take with us into the future? Will we be more prepared for the next unexpected wrong turn? Courtney Naliboff teaches music, theater, and writing on North Haven.
Journal of an Island Kitchen
Let’s talk about ‘fresh’
Must we have out-of-season produce year-round? By Sandy Oliver FOR MILLENNIA, humankind dwelling in the parts of the globe with four distinct seasons—during which at least one of them nothing grows— never hankered for salad in February, or asparagus in January. Or strawberries, or broccoli, except in season. They actually enjoyed good health, except when struck with contagious disease, like the pandemic we are enduring now. So a question floated to me about how islanders might acquire what’s needed for a healthy diet in a place with scant supplies of fresh fare turned on my food historian switch. Out of season fare in early times was a kind of parlor trick performed by elites in most of the globe. In the later 1800s in this country, though, railroads and steam vessels moved produce quickly from the South to the North, and Americans who could afford it ate fresh fare out of season. Then in the 1900s, California lettuce flooded Northeast markets. Florida oranges, no longer a great Christmas treat, were consumed daily country-wide. Today, to enjoy what we term a “healthy” diet, we think we ought to eat all manner of fresh vegetables and fruit
at all times of the year even if you live on a remote Maine island. Islesboro, where I live, has two grocery stores with frequent enough deliveries that the vegetables don’t look like road kill. Frequent enough ferry service means most of our residents have easy access to green stuff on the mainland. I thought I’d ask Barb Fernald, Courtney Naliboff, and Eva Murray what they do on their islands. Barb in the Cranberry Isles reports that islanders can order produce to be picked up in Ellsworth every other week, and from an even closer source, if needed, delivered by an 11 a.m. daily mailboat, though the island stores there do their best to keep produce on hand. Barb goes off island about every three weeks and picks up produce then, strategically. With lettuce, for example: “I might get three kinds. A leaf lettuce to use right away, a romaine type lettuce for the second week, and iceberg will keep until the third week. By the time we get to the head of iceberg lettuce, I try to have a nice batch of alfalfa seeds sprouted to freshen up the salads.” On North Haven, Courtney reports that “The grocery store carries some greens, bell peppers, celery, carrots, etc.,
often of dubious quality. Turner Farm has offered a winter CSA off and on for the last seven years, which is phenomenal when it is at full strength.” Various attempts at cooperative ordering for delivery to the island, when it has worked, helped them get produce. Goodness knows, a deep hunger for greens sets in even at mid-winter and Eva on Matinicus described hauling greenstuff swaddled in layers of spare clothing during bitterly cold weather out to a friend on Monhegan. She had asked the fatal question: do you want anything from the mainland? You might be as fascinated as I was to find out that the human body evolved to store away essential nutrients to nourish us through seasons of scarcity until we once again eat the food that resupplied it. The catch? If the goal is nutrition, then the fresh food must actually contain nutrients. Plain fact is, in the U.S. canned and frozen vegetables picked at their peak quality near the processing plants are usually and quickly put up and often contain more intact vitamins than fresh vegetables hauled half-way around the globe or from one hemisphere to another. Same thing goes for home canned fare.
I know, you have a hard time believing that soft, canned peas are better for you than fresh-picked out of state two weeks before. So don’t buy them. Eat your peas in season bought locally from a farm stand or farmer’s market. Or grow your own. Months later when you have them again, they will taste unbelievably delicious. That goes triple for strawberries. So what can you eat then when peas or strawberries aren’t in season? Cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, winter squashes, onions, shallots, potatoes, and apples stored away in cold cellars. Until they are cooked they are fresh. Fermented vegetables like cabbage as sauerkraut or cucumbers as pickles, and all their fermented brethren, are full of those famous probiotics we hear about, not a new invention but rather a strategy thousands of years old. Meanwhile, stuff yourself full of the good green stuff fresh from plants still in the ground and juicy, fat berries and fruits, ripe and warmed in the sun. Your body will use some, store some, and send you a thank you note in the form of well-being. Sandy Oliver is a food historian who gardens, cooks, and writes on Islesboro.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
19
Guest Columns
Healthcare access challenges older island, rural Mainers Transportation limitations are surprisingly large barriers By Suzanne Carmichael THE DIFFICULTIES THAT Maine island and rural residents face in accessing healthcare is even more challenging for older residents. While many choose to “age in place” in their homes and communities, their need for health and supportive services often increases with age and the barriers can be overwhelming. A few rural and island towns have small health clinics, and Mount Desert Island has its own hospital, but others generally have no local health services or rely on trained community members. Specialty services from simple eye or dental exams to cataract surgery and weekly cancer treatments are only available at distant locations. Unbridged island residents must take a ferry. For rural residents it may mean a five-hour drive to an appointment in Bangor. Older Mainers may also struggle to find long-term care and nursing home placement, as well as palliative and hospice resources. Health can also be compromised by social isolation, lack of access to physical activities, especially in winter, as well as challenges in finding adequate nutrition, home health aides, and caregivers. Respite services for caregivers are often non-existent. A bright spot are all the friends and neighbors who generously help with these needs, but isolated individuals may have no one to call. A common thread that weaves through all these difficulties is a lack of transportation options. The Maine State Plan on Aging 2020-2024 notes that “the need for transportation services does not match the availability of services” and that there is also a lack of knowledge about where to turn for information. This leads to unmet health needs, missed appointments,
and a break in the continuum of services needed for may not have reliable internet service and, if they do, they may not know how to navigate computer optimal health. As people age, their ability to drive may be compro- requirements to connect with their provider. Even mised by health or cognitive issues but some continue with telehealth, many health needs require in-person to drive because there are no other options. A recent examination or laboratory tests. Another barrier for older island and rural Mainers National Rural Health Association policy paper is cost. Paying for gas, internet pointed out that transportation service, and a computer or solutions for rural older adults smartphone is beyond the very begin with changing the discuslimited fixed incomes for some sion from a focus on transportaMainers over 50. Additionally, tion for health needs to viewing although Medicare and transportation as a “social MaineCare generally pay for determinant of rural health and As people age, their telehealth consultations, some community vitality.” insurance companies do not. Even when transportation ability to drive may be All these issues are a challenge options exist, they may be compromised by health or for island and rural Mainers, confusing and hard to access. In and a priority for AARP a recent email, Deer Isle town cognitive issues… Maine’s legislative advocacy manager Jim Fisher listed six staff and volunteers. This legisdifferent transportation options lative session, AARP Maine is available to island residents. following a number of bills that Each has its own phone number, cover healthcare, prescription eligibility requirements, service drug costs, transportation issues, areas, and other limitations. telehealth, broadband service, Some programs rely on volunteer drivers, a friendly neighbors-helping-neighbors and a proposed caregiver tax credit. To be part of the solution, contact your state repreoption but a difficult model to sustain even before sentative and senator. Let them know what health the pandemic. While Maine Seacoast Mission provides an impor- care issues your older community members face and tant health lifeline to unbridged Maine islanders, what needs to be done. Share your stories with them these services are generally lacking in other rural and with AARP Maine: www.aarp.org/me or email areas. One modern option is telehealth, where health me@aarp.org. providers interact with patients via Zoom or other internet platforms including smartphones. This solves some of the transportation and access issues Suzanne Carmichael lives in Deer Isle and is an but comes with additional barriers. Older Mainers AARP Maine volunteer.
Why CMP corridor is good deal for Maine From broadband to education, benefits are many By Richard de Grasse
of lower electric rates. This is how regulation of electric utilities works in Maine and throughout the country. In the 1980s, I was involved with a very similar THE OP-ED PIECE by Tom Saviello in the April issue of The Working Waterfront opposing the CMP 224-mile Hydro-Quebec corridor bringing James Bay hydro power to Vermont via corridor requires a rebuttal. a 40-mile transmission line run First, if Saviello has read through the north woods. After the May 3, 2019 Maine Public all these years, the transmission Utility Commission 107-page line corridor has evolved into a order (docket No. 2017-00232) major recreational path for snowconcerning the New England mobilers, hunters, hikers, crossClean Energy Connect (NECEC) The transmission line country skiers, and bird watchers, corridor, he would have noted that corridor has evolved and it even hosts deer yards. body’s extensive deliberations and Most important, approximately the significant benefits the corridor into a major recreational 20 percent of Vermont’s elechas for Mainers. path for snowmobilers, tricity comes from Hydro-Quebec, Second, he must know that the resulting in Green Mountain Power’s entire CMP corridor matter is hunters, hikers… current electric rates being less than regulated by the PUC, which was CMP’s. Hydro-Quebec power is less created by the legislature with expensive and climate friendly. commissioners appointed by the Gov. Janet Mills has negotiated governor. to have Hydro-Quebec sell 500,000 The PUC regulates CMP and megawatt hours per year of hydroits holding company. Any “excess profits” by CMP or its holding company, as called out electricity to one or more Maine utilities through the new several times by Mr. Saviello, would be discovered and corridor at $4 per megawatt hour, less than the standard ordered returned to the Maine ratepayers in the form supply offer we’re paying now. Good deal, governor!
In addition to recreational benefits, public and ratepayer benefits are summarized on pages 76-78 of the PUC order: low-income customer benefits fund and a rate relief fund; broadband, heat pump, and electric vehicle benefits; Franklin County community benefits; and education grant funding. Maine State renewable energy goals are detailed on pages 69-73. Remember the cost of construction and operation of the NECEC will be borne by customers of electric distribution companies in Massachusetts. In addition, CMP plans to upgrade several transmission lines and substations in anticipation of the added 1,200 MW of hydro power flowing through the state and carrying Maine’s portion of the Hydro-Quebec power purchased by Gov. Mills. I urge anyone still in doubt about the benefits of the project to read the PUC order. You can get a copy from the PUC website or I can email a copy.
Richard de Grasse is a professional engineer retired to Islesboro. He is a former deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service, director of the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, and manager of the Stowe Vermont Electric Department.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Field Notes
Lobster fishery’s history suggests a response A century ago leaders addressed another existential challenge By Sam Belknap THE CURRENT THREATS to the lobster fishery, and consequently our coastal economy, presented by pending federal regulations to protect the critically endangered right whale, have me reflecting on my experience as an academic studying the fishery and my family’s experience within the fishery. It was almost exactly 100 years ago that the fishery found itself facing near collapse, with hundreds of livelihoods in the balance. This collapse was caused by the over exploitation of the resource to serve the canning industry in Maine. Between the end of the Great Depression and the 1970s, leaders within the fishery, whose thinking was forged in that earlier crucible of impending collapse, recognized the impacts of overfishing and took action. Often these actions were met with resistance from other fishermen (mostly men at the time) and occasionally from the scientific community that did not yet recognize the value of the fishery’s on-the-water experience and its own unique method of scientific observation. Rather than splintering the fishery and further driving wedges between it and the scientific community, these
conflicts led directly to the regula- our economy, heritage, and culture. The tions and co-management practices road will not be easy and will require that would eventually lead to the the dedication of brave leaders in the fishery being heralded as the model fishery, communities, and businesses: for sustainable management. Our dedication to a new vision for the coast, lobstering history is an example of and to how we carve out a place for how we could address the challenges both the whale and the lobster fishery. We recognize that regulations to of natural resource management and avoid the pitfalls of the “tragedy of the protect the critically endangered right whale will have direct commons.” impacts on people and This path was not easily their livelihoods. We also trod, but required the recognize it will take all of vision, foresight, and dediRather than cation of leaders across the splintering the us working together to deal with all challenges, real or coast who were willing, fishery, these percieved, to the resilience and courageous enough, to of the communities we love. have the difficult conversaconflicts led We have five years tion and to say, “We can directly to to innovate and adapt, be better, for ourselves, for a luxury not normally our children, and for the regulations. afforded to other indusfuture of this fishery.” tries, sectors, or businesses Faced with a new chalfacing collapse. We also lenge to the fishery, one have the passionate dedithat shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the last 20 years cation to the coast and islands of 50 of of conversations around the criti- the most incredible people I have had cally endangered right whale, we find the privilege of working with at the ourselves with the opportunity to Island Institute. We bring to this challenge a holistic learn from the past. We can replicate the successes of past generations in and integrated approach that is unique. confronting change for the betterment We have the ability to connect this latest of the fishery, which means so much to challenge to myriad other challenges
we work on every day. More importantly, we focus on opportunities, and what the coast could be. It will be this vision of the future, forged alongside industry and community leaders, that will guide us to impact. I shed two tears in writing this, one of sadness for the fear I feel of what the future may hold if we don’t work together, and one of hope for the time we have to help the coast we all love. The fishery and the coast have faced equal challenges in the past and forged a way forward. This will not be the last challenge this fishery faces, but the work we do over the next five years can build the leadership and resilience of this iconic industry so we may face both near-term and long-term challenges and opportunities for innovation. Sam Belknap is a senior community development officer with the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, who works on the marine economy, climate, and energy.
Fathoming
Numbers don’t always tell our story
Rural communities can be misrepresented in data collection By Kate Tagai DATA COLLECTION may seem like an exacting approach in capturing community reality, but if the measuring tool does not match what is being measured, inequity can result. As Catherine D’Ignazio, in a presentation on Data Feminism sponsored by the Data Innovation Project, put it: “What gets counted, counts.” Because of this, small communities are at risk of being left behind if the data can’t accurately represent them. They aren’t getting counted and so they don’t count. How can we get better data that is more equitable? Oversampling is one method that prioritizes collecting data from underrepresented groups so it makes up a larger portion of the data set. A bias is introduced toward the smaller population in the collection phase and then that bias is accounted for by weighting the over-sampled data when it is analyzed. The results don’t change, but the quality and useability increases. The American Community Survey (ACS) doesn’t use oversampling in its data collection methods, but if it
Now, imagine if the ACS oversdid, the data would be more useful. The ACS tells us that in Knox County ampled small communities like Isle au 1,989 people are between 25 and 29 Haut to reduce the margin of error. If the margin of error could years old. The margin of be reduced even a little, we error is plus or minus 63 would know with greater people. So, the number certainty the resources could actually be 2,052 or to serve people it could be 1,926, but we The high margin needed under 30. The people are reasonably confident of error in the would count. that there are about 2,000 This example demonpeople in the county in data because of strates the challenge when that age range. On Isle au Haut, the the small sample working with data from small populations. In ACS shows there are nine size makes it rural and island commupeople in that age range. unreliable. nities it is harder to get But here the margin of accurate data—data that error is plus or minus ten. drives decision making So, the number of late and investment, federal 20-somethings on Isle au program eligibility, grant Haut could be 45 percent of the population or it could be zero. funding, and resource access. The key is that oversampling does The high margin of error in the data because of the small sample size makes not bias the final results, even though we are collecting more data from the it unreliable. If we are trying to use this data point smaller populations: the results are to provide resources for people under weighted to bring them back in line 30, we can get reasonably close to with the distribution of the sample size providing the right amount if we use within the overall population. So, since the population of Isle au the county level data, but not at the Haut makes up less than 1 percent town level.
of the county population, the results would still make up less than 1 percent of the data because the answers would be adjusted. Oversampling is just one strategy for balancing data collection and making it more equitable, but it isn’t the only strategy. As we use data to inform important decisions, we need to ask ourselves critically, how can we collect data that accurately represents the communities where we live and work? How can we create data that helps us get resources where they are needed and breaks down barriers and bias rather than reinforcing them? Data collection is costly and time consuming, but better data practices create greater equity. Let’s make sure what counts gets counted. Kate Tagai is a senior community development officer with the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. She focuses on education and leadership work.
www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
21
Cranberry Report
Cruel April twice experienced This difficult month bracketed pandemic By Barbara Fernald APRIL HAS ALWAYS been a month that plays hard with my emotions. The weather has intense mood swings and suddenly there are a million things to do, not enough hours in the day to accomplish them all, and dinner is always later than I planned. The busyness of it wears me out. It has never been one of my favorite island months, so I don’t think about it much during the rest of the year. When meeting up with friends we don’t usually ask, “How was your April?” I’ve experienced many years of this capricious season on Islesford, but last year stretched my feelings into ranges I never imagined. When I think of how everything felt last April, I remember constant anxiety and disbelief. The uncertainty of it all was paralyzing to me. While Bruce dealt with the pandemic by staying as active as he could, crossing project after project off his list, I spent April in my studio feeling numb every time I sat down at my bench.
I learned the best way to beat the I could not focus and became pretty depressed. I walked away “distant Gramma blues” is to make a from making jewelry. Fortunately, video of reading a book or doing somelast April was warm and many of us thing around the house. My favorite were able to find some stability in our FaceTime visits with my four-yearold grandson involve gardens. I found hope discussions about some in planting seeds but I of these books. (I’ve read sure didn’t feel hopeful 135 so far.) about much else. I learned to make This April feels different It’s as if I have really good crackers from yet again. It’s as if I have spent most of the spent most of the sourdough discard and Bruce has perfected pizza year preparing for this year preparing cooking in his outdoor particular month by for this particular Ooni oven. I learned that surviving and eventually attending a daily early month… thriving. morning Zoom meeting We’ve stayed safe and was the key for me to healthy no matter how finding some structure difficult it was to be sepaand warding off depresrated from loved ones. I learned I can go without leaving the sion. This last year has taught me a level of acceptance I did not previisland for months at a time. Bruce says it reminds him of when ously know I needed. I know it will they were kids and their parents didn’t be useful in the months ahead as have a car or know how to drive. “We we all start coming together again. went for a long time without going off Gratitude is not one of the emotions I usually associate with April, but I may the island,” he remembers.
never think of this month in the same way again. We have survived a whole year of a pandemic that killed millions of people and Bruce and I are now fully vaccinated. Very soon we will see our sons and their families for the first time in eight months. For science and whatever stars aligned to get us to this point I am truly grateful. I have some new skills under my belt and I have found my way back to the studio. I’m looking forward to seeing friends this summer who I missed last year. Life is slowly starting to open back up. Next year I hope to smile on April when it comes around again, remembering how it provided hope and reconnection for so many this year. Barbara Fernald lives on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island).
Observer
Market economics, island style
Vinalhaven store one example of effective response to pandemic By Phil Crossman
increase in contamination and contagion alarmed authorities and resulted IT’S ONLY BEEN a year since the scope in increasing restrictions of the of this scourge began to make itself numbers of people who could be apparent. During those 12 months, in close proximity, Carvers Harbor several island businesses have closed and Market could only allow a very few people in the store at probably won’t re-open. one time. We are 1,200 Others have only clung customarily hungry to existence and hope people and it often to resurface this year. It was impressive seemed most of us A few have remained and many of us were strung out in a healthy and prosperous because the goods or have expressed our food line on the sidewalk outside, while services they provide appreciation. They someone from the are essential and their absolutely rose to store opened the door continued prosperity is for one to exit and for thus assured. the challenge. another one to enter. It’s tempting, for some The Market tried and of us who struggled to managed all sorts of keep our heads above water, to resent those businesses that options to keep us all fed and themhave thrived. On the other hand, some selves in business. For those of us of them had to clear significant obstacles who were very reluctant to or simply and went to great lengths to continue to couldn’t stand in line in such proxprovide the community with what we imity and were even less eager to go and our families needed to simply get by. into the store with others and find Our island’s lone grocery comes to ourselves further compromised, life mind. Early on, when the startling became much easier and certainly
less stressful when the store instituted a policy whereby those of us who felt safer doing so could call in or email our orders and then simply stop by to pick it up or have an employee deliver it to our hands outside. And for others, less able or more cautious, the market delivered to our doors. The staff was endlessly patient and helpful, kept shopping carts and surfaces sanitized, managed allowable numbers of shoppers, all the while keeping shelves stocked while trying to stay away from one another. It was impressive and many of us have expressed our appreciation. They absolutely rose to the challenge. Eventually, of course, restrictions lessened; more of us were allowed in the store at one time and the numbers waiting outside diminished. Through it all, this island community has proved itself remarkably tolerant of demanding, sometimes threatening circumstances, and the protective precautions imposed by the town to deal with them. Those officiating over those circumstances, in particular
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our emergency operations team, have managed the tumultuous realities of COVID, the need to control the movement of people, to remind us of our responsibilities, to keep us informed and, most recently, to oversee the procurement and efficient administration of vaccines to a greater percentage of islanders than is being experienced by others throughout the state and country, have risen to and remained on top of the challenge. Due in large part to their efforts, the virus has affected less than one half of one percent of our population. All in all, we can say, as we emerge from the most debilitating experience most of us have ever had to endure, we have fared remarkably well and it’s been due to the efforts of nearly all of us to cooperate and to take our obligations to one another seriously. Phil Crossman lives on Vinalhaven and serves on the town’s select board.
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Letters to the Editor Saviello connections To the editor: The April edition of The Working Waterfront featured an op-ed from Tom Saviello about the CMP corridor. Mr. Saviello was noted as a former Republican state senator. Presently, Mr. Saviello works for the No CMP Corridor PAC; why would that not be stated, considering the topic he was writing about? No CMP Corridor is funded in part by the fossil fuel industry including NextEra (owners of the Wyman Station on Cousins Island). No wonder Saviello wrote so glowingly of NextEra. Joe McNeill Portland
CALLING IT TRASH—
My argument is based on 40 years of observing fish migrations and the data provided by the federal government and the state. All say noise and electromotor forces from wind turbines have a negative impact on a lot of important species of fish. It is too big of a gamble to place these turbines in an area as productive as the Gulf of Maine to supply power to southern New England. Willis M. Spear Jr Yarmouth
Too meek? To the editor:
Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors TheMagazine placement of additional lobster traps in the path of
the preliminary survey boat working on the offshore wind project is an uptick in this ongoing conflict. But we’ve seen this impediment to progress before. And it’s been successful—Dragon Cement barges To the editor: very carefully, checking especially for spelling, grammatical, and factual errors. Pleasebringing pay close attention to to Wiscasset to be loaded at the Mason Station and I am adamantly opposed to offshore wind projects and to all the details in physical, e-mail, and web site addresses. Please note that any colors shown are merely in the Gulf of Maine because it is one of the richest sent to Boston; barges on the Sheepscot River would d on paper. Wegrounds make in every effort to be 100%thousand error free.destroy However, we cannot be held responsible for errors once the best fishing grounds in Maine, lobstermen fishing the world. Twenty-six claimed. The dealsign, was scrapped. coastal Maine people and 53 coastal ave approved this printout. Please checkcommunities the appropriate box below, and return to: But here we see wind energy, touted to be the best depend on the Gulf of Maine for a living. The Gulf of Boats, Maine Homes & Harbors, 218 South Main St., Ste.to 300, Box 566,and Rockland, answer thwartP.O. climate change a benefit to ME all, 04841 produces some $740Inc., million yearly, according Cory McDonald holds a balloon retrieved from being challenged by a small and vociferous group, to Coastal Enterprises. 207-594-8622 • Fax: 207-593-0026 the waters off Stonington while aboard the F/V The ecosystem of Maine’s coastal waters is far too with a high profile and excessive cache. Tyrant. McDonald’s wife, Rep. Genevieve McDonald, What will our position be? Or are we too meek to fragile to support a project that has so many negaD-Stonington, has sponsored LD 1023, “An act to tive impacts on marine life and the folks that need take a stand? define intentional balloon releases as litter.” The access to the fishing grounds. I have actually caught bill was expected to be the subject of a hearing in Davies Allan fish where the state wants to put an “experimental” mid-April. Westport Island wind farm. PHOTO: COURTESY GENEVIEVE McDONALD
Too big a2021 risk rch/April
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www.workingwaterfront.com . May 2021
23
Tanks foul air, threaten health, South Portland residents say Consent decree in place, but lack of DEP jurisdiction cited By Stephen Rappaport
S
outh Portland’s industrial waterfront lies at the mouth of the Fore River, across a widening expanse of water from Portland’s busy commercial district. Protected, and with deep water anchorage, it’s as prime as it gets. But as the shoreline turns to the southeast, that industrial character changes. Near the boundary with Cape Elizabeth lies Willard Beach, with its views of the islands. North and west of the beach is Bug Light Park, located on the site of a former World War II shipyard. It marks the eastern end of the Greenbelt Walkway that stretches westwards towards the Scarborough town line. At about its halfway point, the walkway passes a tank farm operated by Global Partners LLC. Farther up the shore of the river are the tank farms where Sprague Resources stores primarily heavy No. 6 fuel oil and asphalt. Those tanks are often heated to keep the contents liquid. In all, the facility hosts some 120 industrial tanks, virtually all used to store petroleum products. According to figures compiled by the grassroots organization Protect South Portland, those tanks are licensed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to emit some 590 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 104 tons of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) yearly. Liz Fuller, a spokeswoman for Global, reported that in 2019, the actual emissions were lower, at 164 tons of VOCs. In addition, she noted that “for more than a year, DEP has had 7 VOC air monitors
in South Portland and Portland collecting air quality data that has been analyzed by the CDC. That work is ongoing, and regulatory changes are being considered.” To a visitor passing through South Portland, the most obvious sign of those emissions may be a foul odor which, in some weather conditions, can be evident even across the water in Portland, according to Espahbad Dodd, a self-described climate activist who lives in the city’s West End. About a decade ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began an investigation of hazardous emissions from tank farms throughout New England. In Maine, the investigation focused on Global’s 12 tanks in South Portland and on Sprague tanks there and in Searsport. In December 2019, after Global had already settled with the EPA, Sprague accepted the terms of a proposed consent decree, settling charges arising from the EPA investigation that it had violated the federal Clean Air Act and various federal and state regulations aimed at controlling the emission of VOCs at its facilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and in Maine, including the South Portland tanks. On Jan. 15, after an extended public comment period, the federal district court in Massachusetts approved the decree. Among its other provisions, the consent decree requires Sprague to install “carbon bed systems” in order “to reduce odors” emanating from its No. 6 oil and asphalt tanks in South Portland. Sprague also agreed to obtain all necessary air quality-related permits required by the city or DEP.
But South Portland resident Roberta Zuckerman, who has been involved with the city’s clean air efforts for nearly a decade, said the consent decree misses the point. Many of the city’s tanks are located close to schools, playgrounds or senior housing, she said. “Odors are not the issue,” she said, but rather it is “concerns about the issues of VOCs and hazardous air emissions,” among them such known carcinogens as benzene, and their impact on public health. Another problem, Zuckerman said, is that while the Maine DEP exercises its authority to monitor potentially hazardous emissions, the agency has no authority to monitor odors and appears disinclined to do any monitoring beyond what state law, or the EPA, requires. “It’s a very subjective sort of thing,” she said. In a lengthy report to the legislature filed in January, DEP confirmed that it had no authority under state law to monitor for odors under its air quality monitoring and permitting process. On March 2, the South Portland Clean Air Advisory Committee presented its final report to the city council. According to the committee, installation of equipment designed to control the flow of odors from the tanks required by the consent decree will also reduce VOCs emissions. In a March 3 email, Shana Hoch, Sprague’s managing director for marketing and customer experience, wrote: “The consent decree is now finalized, and subject to coming to a consensus with the town and DEP, we will obtain any necessary permits, construct the approved solution, and build a timeline for implementation.”
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The Working Waterfront . May 2021
Home is here. It’s simple. You live in Maine because you want to live your life your way. As a family-owned, Maine-based business for over forty years, Hamilton Marine values the things Mainers value; service, dependability, and honest to goodness real deals. It’s that simple, and the reason we all call Maine home.
800-639-2715 hamiltonmarine.com
OUR BUSINESS IS TO LEND YOU MONEY. OUR MISSION IS TO GROW YOUR SUCCESS.
Nobody finances commercial fishing like Farm Credit East. Like agriculture, the fishing industry has its own unique credit needs. And we’re proud to serve them both.
Photo by Wayne Hamilton ©.
KITTERY
PORTLAND
ROCKLAND
SEARSPORT
SW HARBOR
JONESPORT
Financing For: Boats & Trucks Real Estate Permits Bait Storage Facilities
No other lender offers more expertise, specialized financial products, or dedicated services to achieve your goals.
Wharves
farmcrediteast.com | 800.831.4230
Operating Lines
Equipment Haul Out & Repair
11530_FISHING_Made in Ag_Our Business_4.9x7.35.indd 1
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