From the Sea Up

In this episode, we’ll hear from four entrepreneurs, Patrick and Amber of Marin Skincare, and Inga Potter and Krista Rosen of Cold Current Kelp. These business owners are rethinking the uses for two of Maine’s prominent marine species - lobster and kelp - and, in the process, they’re creating markets that go beyond seafood. We’ll learn how they built these businesses from the ground-up and how they are contributing to innovations in Maine’s Blue Economy. 

When Abby Barrows and Ben Jackson of Deer Isle Oyster Company bought their oyster farm, they inherited a lot of gear. And all of that gear was made of plastic. For Abby, a marine researcher focused on microplastics in the world’s oceans, this was a big problem. So, Abby and Ben set out to try to change the amount of plastic on their oyster farm. Along with other innovators like Katie Weiler at Viable Gear in Portland, Maine they’re coming up with plastic-free solutions for fisheries and sea farms.

In this episode, we’re hearing stories about innovation in materials on Maine’s coast. We’ll learn how Deer Isle Oyster Company and Viable Gear are forging ahead with research and development to try to reduce plastic in the ocean. These individuals and businesses demonstrate how much effort goes into innovation, and how even the smallest change can have a huge impact on the sustainability of our fisheries. 

Islesford resembles a lot of Maine’s outer islands. It has a population that fluctuates with the seasons, multi-generational year-round families, and a community of artists and fishermen. But when you arrive on this island, you may notice something different about Islesford’s waterfront. The roof of the lobster co-op, a classic wooden structure on a long wharf, is completely covered in solar panels.

In this season of Island Institute’s podcast “From the Sea Up,” we’re talking about innovation - and bringing you stories about the communities and businesses who are boldly pursuing climate solutions to support the future of Maine's marine economy.

This episode looks at how Maine communities and working waterfronts are transitioning away from fossil fuels towards energy solutions that are better for the environment and more cost-effective. From electric boats to solar energy, these transitions will make Maine’s coastal towns and islands more resilient - but access to these kinds of energy solutions is still limited. There are hurdles that the state, utility companies, and individual communities need to overcome - and the problems require flexible, collaborative solutions.

In the town of Cape Elizabeth, in Southern Maine, there’s one last strip of commercial access on the waterfront. This access, situated within Kettle Cove State Park beside neighboring Crescent Beach, is, at high tide, just wide enough to get a boat trailer into the water and launch a skiff to get to the mooring field. In the summertime, this access and the adjacent parking lot are heavily congested. A recent redevelopment plan by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands has caused a lot of anxiety for commercial fishermen, who fear that the state will redirect recreational boating and public access from a small strip on Crescent Beach to the commercial zone at Kettle Cove State Park.

In this episode, we hear from fishermen in the Cape Elizabeth Fishermen’s Alliance, who are self-advocating for their final piece of commercial access in this wealthy Maine town.

This podcast is made possible by the Fund for Maine Islands and a partnership between the Island Institute, College of the Atlantic, Maine Sea Grant, and The First Coast.

Nestled within an archipelago in Penobscot Bay, Stonington Harbor is a bustling working waterfront at the southern end of the island of Deer Isle. The towns of Stonington and Deer Isle share an island and a public school system, deep family ties, a culture rooted in commercial fishing and art, and, like much of the nation, a dire housing crisis. In these towns there are simply not enough places for working people to live. Over twenty years ago, a small group of passionate Islanders began brainstorming and researching one solution to the housing problem. In 2020 that group, Island Workforce Housing, broke ground on the construction of five homes, each containing two year-round rentals. This is just one solution to a monumental issue facing this island and other communities in Maine and around the country.

In this episode, we'll learn about some of the history behind this community's housing crisis and what, specifically, is at risk if there are no long-lasting solutions for year-round housing. And we’ll learn about two solutions that these communities are exploring: building year-round rental homes, and potentially regulating short-term rentals. 

This episode was written and produced Galen Koch and assistant producer Olivia Jolley for the Island Institute. Nicole Wolf takes the photographs that accompany this episode. From the Sea Up’s Senior Editor is Isaac Kestenbaum. Thanks to Kathleen Billings, Linda Nelson, and the town of Stonington for participation in this episode. Thanks to Island Workforce Housing, specifically Henry Teverow, Maggie Kirsch, and Megan Dewey Wood. Special thanks to Anna and Ryan Woosley and their family for welcoming us into their home. This podcast is made possible by the Fund for Maine Islands and a partnership between the Island Institute, College of the Atlantic, Maine Sea Grant, and The First Coast.

For more information about ongoing work in the Town of Stonington to address the housing crisis, visit: https://www.stoningtonmaine.org/gov/economic-development.php

Southwest Harbor is located on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island. A town of multiple maritime industries, Southwest Harbor boasts a tradition of superior boatbuilding and, for the past two years, has emerged as one of the top ten highest grossing lobster ports in the state. With more than four million visitors at Acadia National Park in 2021, the pressures on this side of MDI are mounting. Increased summer visitorship means business is booming, but commuter traffic, dwindling resources, and a lack of a seasonal and year-round workforce incite questions about how to sustain and support this working town. 

In this episode, we examine the history of Southwest Harbor’s decision, as a community, to maintain and support its commercial fisheries through zoning and regulations. Visiting two iconic Southwest Harbor businesses, Hinckley Yachts and Beal’s Lobster Pier, we explore the push-and-pull of Maine’s seasonal economy, and the challenges and opportunities where commercial fishing, maritime industries, and recreation meet.

Resources:

• MCP website: Maine Coastal Program | Department of Marine Resources
• Shore and Harbor Grant: Shore and Harbor Planning Grants | Department of Marine Resources (maine.gov) – the program statement for the current year’s grant can be found on this page
• Shore and Harbor Case Studies: Case Studies | Department of Marine Resources (maine.gov) This page has a map showing the locations of towns MCP funded, a list of funded projects, some write-ups about previous projects, and a story map highlighting last year’s MCP projects.
• Resources for preserving commercial fishing access: Coastal Access | Department of Marine Resources (maine.gov) This document has a list of state grants that could be useful for improving and protecting shore access, as well as grants that can be used for waterfront construction.
• Penobscot Bay Study: Penobscot Bay_Summary Report 12 23 19.pdf (maine.gov) This study by MCP took a really detailed look at a number of working waterfron

A historic fishing town with over 50 miles of coastline, Gouldsboro has been at the center of a divisive controversy for the past two years. In 2020, the Norwegian-backed company American Aquafarms proposed putting two closed-pen salmon farms, totaling 120-acres, in Frenchman Bay between Gouldsboro and Bar Harbor. That proposal prompted a flurry of opposition from organizations, fishermen, and residents throughout the region. Although American Aquafarm’s initial application for an aquaculture lease was denied by the Maine Department of Marine Resources in the spring of 2022, a question about the future of Maine’s waters took hold in many rural coastal communities. 

In this episode, we visit South Gouldsboro, a small and active working waterfront with stunning views of Cadillac Mountain and the proposed lease site. With perspectives from a seaweed farmer and cultivator, Sarah Redmond, and Jerry Potter, a longtime lobsterman, this episode explores the identity and needs of one working community along Gouldsboro’s expansive coast. As pressures from outside interests build in rural Maine, we ask the question: What kind of working waterfront do we want to see here in the future?

In the far eastern corner of Downeast Maine there’s a 3.7 square mile island. Connected to the mainland by a causeway and road that passes through the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation, Sipayik, this island is home to the town of Eastport, population 1,300. One of the most prominent sardine canning villages along the coast, Eastport’s last sardine factory closed in 1983. With that, a century-long industry was gone.

In this episode we learn how Eastport has transitioned from a waterfront of empty factories to a vibrant multi-use working waterfront positioned to respond and adapt to a very uncertain future.

In this final installment of our Sustainable Seafood series, we’re going big and we’re going wild! We’re talking about the mysterious, internationally regulated, strong, and powerful Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. The reputation of this fish and fishery is one of high drama, but despite making great television, it’s a fishery that leaves a lot of consumers puzzled. And so, in this episode we’re going to learn a lot about Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and hear firsthand from fishermen and researchers about why this fish belongs in a series about sustainable seafood.