Features

There was a time when lobsters were so abundant along the Maine coast that they could be plucked by hand from shallow water. Those days are long gone, but for most people — whose interactions with lobsters happen on plates and rolls — it might be hard to say how lobsters and the lobster industry are doing. Lobster rolls might cost more, like everything else, but they're still available.

Almost every lobsterman has the same answer about what they're paying too much for: "Everything." They are feeling the squeeze in every aspect: fuel, bait, traps, rope, insurance and more. The only thing that they say hasn't gone up is the price they get for their lobsters.

Lobstermen are under threat. They all agree on that much. The threats they describe vary from one to the next. But they are worried about their future, and the future of a livelihood that many learned from their fathers and grandfathers and want to pass to their children and grandchildren.

Harpswell's working waterfront is as vital to its lobstermen as their boats and traps. The working waterfront is where they access their boats, take on bait and fuel, sell their lobsters, and store their gear. Keeping these wharfs, floats, bait sheds and other structures in working order is an ongoing battle. For wharf owners, rising costs, a shrinking fleet and an uncertain future are making that battle even more difficult, and the stakes are high.

A thick fog has Andy Johnson motoring slowly, eyes flicking from the windscreen to his instruments, as he navigates around Basin Point and heads up toward Mitchell Field. A couple hours later, under clear blue skies, the captains will only have one thing to worry about: speed.

Fishing runs through Harpswell like the rise and fall of the tides. For Josh and Emily Morse, it's more than a livelihood — it's part of who they are, woven through generations of family tradition.

The sun has just begun to peek over the horizon on June 29 when Tyler McLaughlin guides his boat, Cartwheel, away from its dock in Mackerel Cove.

"Did I always want to be a priest? It's an unfortunate answer, but it shows God has a sense of humor — and knows what he's doing. I was going to Seton Hall University on a track scholarship. It's a Division I school, so I was pretty fast. I went to the weight room, went to the workouts. The one thing I wasn't going to was the classes."

The dining hall at the historic Auburn Colony in South Harpswell overflowed with members on a Wednesday evening in July. A breeze off Casco Bay ruffled the sheer white curtains. There was an energy in the air, a buzz of anticipation.

The grand opening of the Harpswell Collective, a gallery and studio space in the former Estes Lobster House, attracted hundreds of curious visitors during the third annual Harpswell Open Studio Tour on July 18 and 19.