Tag Archives: Casco Bay
A day on the ocean with Maine’s tough winter scallopers
Their day began in the 5:30 a.m. darkness, when Josh Todd and his father, Alex Todd, steamed the F/V Jacob & Joshua from Chebeague Island to Littlejohn Island, where they picked up Blanchard. As Alex Todd piloted his boat to the day’s fishing ground west of Eagle Island, Josh Todd and Blanchard readied the vessel’s eight-foot, 1,500-pound dredge where it hung from scaffolding at the stern. Once in position, Blanchard lowered the dredge on a quarter-inch steel cable. The Jacob & Joshua shuddered, and the rigging groaned, as the dredge bit into the graveled sea floor, roughly 80 feet below. 8 photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:15
Dozens of boats race through Casco Bay for annual Lobster Boat Races
Sunday was the final day of lobster boat races for the season. From Boothbay, to Portland fishermen traveled the coast to compete. Jon Johansen helps run the races. He says each boat pays $20 to compete which goes towards helping high school graduates attend college through the fishermen’s scholarship fund. “The party started on Friday and in certain places it hasn’t stopped yet,” >Video, photos, click to read< 10:03
A possible resurgence of invasive green crabs poses a threat to Casco Bay’s soft-shell clams
Soft-shell clams are a summer tradition around Casco Bay, both for the tourists and residents who love steamers and for the clam diggers who turn long, backbreaking hours on the mud flats into cold, hard cash. But an infestation of invasive green crabs ravaged juvenile clam stocks in the past four years, adding to ecological changes, competition for coastal access and other pressures facing the state’s second most valuable fishery. Clam landings in the Casco Bay communities of Freeport, Harpswell and Brunswick, some of the state’s leading clam producers, plummeted to historic lows in 2015, and the scarcity of soft-shell clams contributed to all-time high prices. Read the rest here 09:21
Mutant lobsters in Casco Bay
They’re actually a lot more common than one might think, sometimes they come up with multiple claws, sometimes they’re different colors, and sometimes they’re so riddled with shell disease that they’re almost unrecognizable. Here’s some of the more unusual mutants that have come up in my Captain’s traps over the past year. Hope you like ‘em folks! Read more here BDN 08:14
