ELLSWORTH — Imagine running a trucking business and having your supply of diesel fuel cut by 70 percent. For all practical purposes, that’s what happened to the Maine lobster industry last week. Last Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it was cutting the 2019 herring quota by about 70 percent. That bodes ill …
BUCKSPORT — This former mill town still has a ways to go, but two new projects could turn the inland river city into a mecca for seafood lovers. Portland-based Whole Oceans is immersed in developing a land-based recirculating aquaculture facility that will, it hopes, eventually produce more than 44 million pounds of Atlantic salmon on …
ELLSWORTH — The shutdown of the federal government that began just before Christmas is still having an impact in Ellsworth. Last November, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a draft environmental assessment in connection with the application by Black Bear Hydro Partners, a subsidiary of the Canadian Brookfield Renewable Partners, for a new license …
BUCKSPORT — By now, it is no secret that the Portland-based company Whole Oceans plans to build a land-based fish farm on the site of the former Verso mill that will, if all goes as expected, grow 20,000 metric tons (about 44 million pounds) of Atlantic salmon using recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology. Last week, …
STONINGTON — Imagine a house where an incoming ocean tide laps over the living room floor. Deer Isle visual artist Jeffrey Becton has created such scenes in his work, which one art critic has described as “serene and treacherous.” Is Becton exercising artistic license or prescience? Rising sea tides are a concern for the town …
ELLSWORTH — Over the past decade or so, Maine lobstermen have dealt with a number of restrictions on how they fish imposed in the name of protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear. Nearly everywhere but up inside Maine’s many bays, fisheries regulators have forced lobstermen to use sinking rather than …
BAR HARBOR — The Schoodic Ferry, the May-to-October passenger service between Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor, is ceasing operation. Kaitlyn Mullen, who started the ferry service in 2016, cited “funding issues” as a major reason for shutting it down. “You can only go so far with so much money,” she said. As for another factor …
TREMONT — Officials of the state’s Department of Transportation will explain plans for proposed additional structures to the Bass Harbor Ferry Terminal at a meeting Feb. 26 at the Tremont town office. Not expected to begin until 2020, the $765,000 project includes the installation of a south side dolphin, a walkway and a wave fence. …
ELLSWORTH — A commercial dock for aquaculture and fishing vessels to unload their catch. New fuel tanks, including diesel. A larger boat to patrol the Union River. A combined building with bath house and harbormaster’s office. These are just a few of the goals members of the Ellsworth Harbor Commission laid out for City Council …
SWAN’S ISLAND — When longtime fisherman Jason Joyce decided to start Swan’s Island Oyster Farm two years ago, he knew there was risk involved, but there has been help along the way. With the guidance of Island Institute’s Aquaculture Business Development (ABD) program, Joyce and his cousin, Josh Joyce, decided to diversify their income by …
