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 t

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 K

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 co

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 ar

Boothbay Harbor is one of Maine’s tourist playgrounds with art galleries, souvenir shops, restaurants, and hotels that cater to summer visitors. If you drive past the shops and condominiums along the waterfront you will see, sandwiched in and among lobster restaurants and marinas, four commercial piers with buying stations, bait companies, and other marine services that support a

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

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

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, fi

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.

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