News

Eider ducks and bald eagles that nest in and around Harpswell have high levels of PFAS chemicals following an August 2024 spill of firefighting foam on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

The Harpswell Islands Genealogy and History Center has a new home on Bailey Island, rescuing a former bed-and-breakfast at the corner of Route 24 and Oceanside Road that had been slated for demolition as recently as last year.

Ruby Pinders grew up in Maine, spent years building a business with her husband in Vermont, and then came home. As her 77th birthday approached this summer, she traveled to the Giant's Stairs on Bailey Island to walk beside familiar waters.

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.

The Bailey Island Fishing Tournament returned July 18-24 for its 84th edition, with an emphasis on the next generation. The Casco Bay Tuna Club, which organizes the tournament, added a new category for ages 12-17 and opened the tournament with an afternoon of tuna activities for families.

A shortage of volunteers responding to nighttime fires has the leaders of Harpswell's three community departments saying it's time for the town — and taxpayers — to fund 24/7 coverage by paid town firefighters.