Coastal Conversations

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Ascophyllum Nodosum, more commonly known as rockweed, is that ubiquitous brown seaweed that coats much of the shoreline between high and low tide. Rockweed has been commercially harvested in Maine for decades and it is an important part of a healthy intertidal ecosystem. Recently, the Maine Supreme Judicial court ruled that rockweed, unlike clams and other species that grow along Maine’s shore, is the property of the upland landowner.

What is rockweed and what role does it play in a healthy intertidal ecosystem?
What is the history of the rockweed harvesting in Maine and how is it harvested?
What was the recent court ruling about?

Guests:
Hannah Mittelstaedt, graduate student, invertebrate ecology, University of Maine
Greg Tobey, General Manager, Source Micronutrients
Bonnie Tobey, Operations Manager, Source Micronutrients
Jaclyn Robidoux, Marine Extension Associate, Maine Sea Grant
George Seaver, VP of Ocean Organics

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Key Discussion Points:
·What are your books about?
·Between you, you have very different genres (fiction, science writing, guidebooks…), how did you come to this genre and how do you think your work is related to each other?
·How does Maine figure in your books? Why?
·What is your research process?
·What are the ethics of getting the facts right and representing your characters or your places truthfully?

Guests:

Barbara Lawrence first visited Mount Desert in 1948, and in 1979 became “a year-round summer person.” That perspective grounds her novels, which grew out of her dissertation about the influence of culture on aspirations on Mount Desert Island. She has written seven other books and many articles on a wide range of topics.

Catherine Schmitt writes nonfiction, primarily about science, nature, and the environment, and works as a science communication specialist with Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park.

Hope Rowan. In addition to a writer of guide books and stories of the outdoors, Hope Rowan is a freelance cartogpher and works as a GIS Specialist at the Center for Community GIS.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel

·Overview of the interdisciplinary approach to education at the K-12 North Haven Community School.

·What is a magnet school program and why is an island-based school seeking magnet students?

·Student voices talking about the experience of being a magnet student, how a washed up whale became a central focus throughout the school’s curriculum this year, and how one senior is getting a start in scallop farming.

Guests:

Teachers from North Haven Community School

Courney Naliboff, K-12 music, theatre, English and writing teacher
Lisa White, high school science and Math teacher,
Amy Peterson, high school humanities teacher.
Students from North Haven Community School

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

1) What are alewives, what is their ecology and cultural history?
2) How do alewives uses the Bagaduce region and have been their barriers to spawning here?
3) What is being done to help restore alewives in the regions, the important role of volunteers and how people can get involved.

Guests:
Bailey Bowden from the Town of Penobscot, fisheries activist and co-founder of the Bagaduce River Alewife Committee – a group of citizens from three river towns working to restore fish passage within their watershed.
Mike Thalhauser, Fisheries Biologist at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries in Stonington – facilitating and supporting the Bagaduce River Alewife Committee as part of their efforts to support co-managed fisheries at the right scale.
Ciona Ulbrich, Senior Project Manager at Maine Coast Heritage Trust. In close partnership with Bailey, Mike and others, Ciona has served as point person in pulling together the funding, collaboration, engineering and construction of the set of fishway projects that together will restore passage throughout the Bagaduce River watershed.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Voices From the Maine Fishermen’s Forum 2019: Women in Fisheries

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel

When you picture someone hauling up lobster traps on the wind swept Atlantic Ocean, chances are good that you are picturing a man. Fishing is one of those industries that is still mostly dominated by men. But that’s changing. The number of women involved in fishing is on the rise, and there are more and more women involved in many related occupations too, occupations that support coastal communities and a thriving fishing industry.

Five women involved in various aspect of the fishing industry are interviewed, including a lobsterman, a lobster trap builder, a fisheries biologist, and a pair of occupational therapists working to improve the odds of fishermen using lifejackets in this notoriously dangerous industry.

These interviews are part of a larger collection called Voices of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum.

Guests:
Freda McKie, lobsterman, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Sonya Corbett, lobster trap builder, Sea Rose Trap Company, South Portland, Maine
Sarah Madronal, fisheries biologist for Downeast Salmon Federation, Alewife Harvesters of Maine, and the Nature Conservancy
Jessica Echard and Rebecca Weil, occupational therapists, Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety

Podcast: Play in new window | Download