Rising Tides - Adapting to Coastal Maine's Future

Send us Fan Mail Two Maine scallop farms are betting on two different futures: one building a premium shucked-meat business, the other building a market for whole, live scallops — a market that depends on testing infrastructure more fragile than it looks. In this episode of Rising Tides, Bill Perna talks with Dana Morse, whose work on Maine's scallop farming industry stretches back to early r...

Send us Fan Mail Dan Devereux has spent more than thirty years working Maine's coast. He'll tell you the hardest part has never been the oysters. In this episode of Rising Tides, Bill Perna speaks with Dan Devereux, co-founder of Mere Point Oyster Company in Brunswick, about the people who show up every day to do this work — and what it means to build something that earns its place in a...

Send us Fan Mail Maine's Damariscotta River has been producing oysters for thousands of years. The shell middens that line its banks — some rising 31 vertical feet — are evidence that Native Americans were harvesting here at commercial scale long before lobstering, clamming, or any other fishery Maine is known for. David Cheney farms 650 feet from the largest of them, and he'll tell you...

Send us Fan Mail Maine's working waterfront generates enormous amounts of waste — fish heads, viscera, eel trim — material that processors pay to get rid of. Liam Fisher thinks that's an opportunity hiding in plain sight. In this episode of Rising Tides, Bill Perna speaks with Liam about the unlikely path that brought him from mechanical engineering in Worcester to hand-cutting eels on t...

Send us Fan Mail Maine’s coastal economy is being quietly reshaped by new industries, new pressures, and the people working to connect them. In this episode of Rising Tides , Bill Perna speaks with Dana Morse about what it really takes to support a changing working waterfront. With decades of experience at Maine Sea Grant and the University of Maine’s Marine Extension program, Dana reflects on his...

Send us Fan Mail Maine’s working waterfronts are evolving, as aquaculture, climate change, and shifting access reshape how coastal communities make a living. In this episode of Rising Tides, Bill Perna speaks with Abby Barrows about her path from environmental science into oyster farming, and what that shift reveals about the future of Maine’s coast. Abby reflects on why she chose to buy an oyster...

Send us Fan Mail Maine has abundant, sustainably managed fisheries, yet much of that fish never reaches local plates. In this episode of Rising Tides , Bill Perna speaks with Ben Martens about why disconnects between fishing, markets, and access continue to shape who benefits from Maine’s coastal resources. Ben reflects on how working waterfront access, unstable markets, and shifting priorities af...

Send us Fan Mail Decisions made today will shape Maine’s coast for decades to come. In this episode of Rising Tides , Bill Perna speaks with Bill Mook about how science, regulation, and long-term thinking influence the future of the working waterfront. Bill Mook reflects on the role of research and governance in managing coastal change, from aquaculture development to broader environmental pressur...

Send us Fan Mail Maine’s coastal future is being shaped by people adapting in real time. In this opening episode of Rising Tides , Bill Perna speaks with oyster farmer Jeff Auger about the forces reshaping the working waterfront. Jeff reflects on his path into aquaculture and the realities of building a livelihood on the water today. Together, they discuss cooperation between fishermen, farmers, r...

Send us Fan Mail Eric Oransky grew up in Freeport, Maine. He spent a lot of time on Casco Bay.  When he was 21, he apprenticed with the Scottish master cabinet maker James Bowie for furniture making in northern California. In 2007, at 23, Eric moved back to Maine and started his first business,  all the while spending time on the water any chance he got. He focused on woodworking, including furnit...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is part of a series of long-form conversations exploring Maine aquaculture and the people working on and alongside the water. Through firsthand experience and lived perspective, the podcast looks at how environmental, economic, and community forces shape Maine’s working waterfront. Perna Content's  Rising Tides explores how coastal Maine is adapting to environmen...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is part of a series of long-form conversations exploring Maine aquaculture and the people working on and alongside the water. Through firsthand experience and lived perspective, the podcast looks at how environmental, economic, and community forces shape Maine’s working waterfront. Perna Content's  Rising Tides explores how coastal Maine is adapting to environmen...

Send us Fan Mail George Parr has been in the seafood business for four decades. He has been instrumental in creating the reputation of Maine oysters. George takes a firm stand when buyers “From Away” come to Maine and try to drive down oyster prices rather than pay a fair price for what many consider to be among the world’s best oysters. His sense of fairness has benefited not just his clients but...

Send us Fan Mail In 2010, Abigail Carroll started NONESUCH oysters. It began as a small oyster farm in a nature conservancy in Scarborough, Maine, which just south of Portland. Today Nonesuch Oyster is an award-winning company whose oysters are in found top restaurants across the country.  NONESUCH also offers a range of healthy Maine seafood and handmade skincare products made with Maine marine i...

Send us Fan Mail Today we are with Bill Mook,  an industry pioneer who is the founder of Mook Sea Farm, an oyster farm on the Damariscotta River.   Bill has been recognized by the Gulf of Maine Council's Sustainable Industry Awards for his efforts to improve the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the coastal communities. He was a member of the Maine Ocean Acidification Commission that convened, wrot...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is part of a series of long-form conversations exploring Maine aquaculture and the people working on and alongside the water. Through firsthand experience and lived perspective, the podcast looks at how environmental, economic, and community forces shape Maine’s working waterfront. Perna Content's  Rising Tides explores how coastal Maine is adapting to environmen...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is part of a series of long-form conversations exploring Maine aquaculture and the people working on and alongside the water. Through firsthand experience and lived perspective, the podcast looks at how environmental, economic, and community forces shape Maine’s working waterfront. Perna Content's  Rising Tides explores how coastal Maine is adapting to environmen...