Tag Archives: Linda Nelson
Weatherbeaten Maine Seeks More Resilient Infrastructure
Stonington, Maine, is an island town in Penobscot Bay with a year-round population of just over 1,000 people. Its lobster fishing port is the biggest in the state, supplying about 11 percent of all the Maine lobster that gets shipped to food markets around the world. In January, a winter storm caused a surge that flooded out a string of privately owned wharves that support the lobster industry and washed over a publicly owned commercial pier, knocking out all of its electronics. “We basically got hit by a wall of water,” says Linda Nelson, Stonington’s director of economic development. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:10
Stonington voters will decide whether to create housing fund
The state’s largest lobster port has seen an increase in properties being used seasonally, making it harder to foster a year-round community. The town now plans to have residents decide at the March annual town meeting whether to create a fund to help develop housing by using cash from tax-acquired properties. An exact dollar amount hasn’t been settled on, but it could be as much as $100,000. Some lobster boat captains say they have fishermen commuting from as far as Appleton and Bangor. >click to read< 11:15
Island’s fate tied to fishing, residents say: “I think we’re being pushed out”
Make way for windmills. That was one of the worries aired by Deer Isle-Stonington fishermen and small business owners who attended a breakfast economic development meeting at the Stonington town office Friday. A few residents and small business owners said they think the fishing industry is being pushed out to make room for windmills, thus further advancing green energy agendas that Governor Janet Mills and the federal government have adopted. Mike Shepard said he started fishing at age 10 in a “little outboard.” “I’m almost 70 now,” the lobsterman said. “I fished all my life out here. All that time I’ve been fishing. I’ve never seen a whale. It has nothing to do with the whale, it has to do with what they want to do with our waters out here. They want to go green and it’s killing the lobster industry, which is our way of life.” >click to read< 19:36
