Fall foliage and boats don't seem to go in hand in hand, but in Portland, the best way to see the season's colors is to cruise around Casco Bay's islands.

The Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, is working to help fishermen and other business people diversify into shellfish and seaweed aquaculture on Maine’s islands and remote coastal communities.

The Conservation Law Foundation has worked for years to permanently protect the remarkable Cashes Ledge area. This biodiversity hotspot provides refuge for a stunning array of ocean wildlife—from Atlantic cod to endangered right whales, bluefin tuna to Atlantic wolf fish—and a rare lush kelp forest.

The coast of Maine and neighboring Maritime Canada are extraordinary in many ways, but there is one way in which we are truly unique on the planet—the height of our tides.

On Oct. 24, voters will be asked at a special town meeting to authorize selectmen to negotiate with individuals or entities to provide ferry service from Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor to Great Cranberry Island, Little Cranberry Island and Sutton Island. If negotiations are successful, a final town vote would follow.

The El Faro tragedy—the loss of the cargo ship in early October, with the entire crew presumed dead—reminds us of the dangers of the sea. The United States Coast Guard’s week-long search for the ship, covering 172,000 square nautical miles, according to reports, reminds us of the valor of a service dedicated to the rescue and safety of people on the seas.

Women are invited to join a group of other volunteers at Maine’s First Ship’s waterfront boatshed on Sunday, Nov. 8, for the second annual Women’s Shipbuilding Day. Maine’s First Ship is building Virginia, a reconstruction of the first ship built by English colonists in 1607 at the mouth of the Kennebec.

Despite the desperate situation, we train for just such things. No matter how bad a situation at sea becomes, hope for survival always remains strong.

Chris Warner, a professional shellfish harvester in Georgetown, has been working with Dr. Brian Beal of the Downeast Institute and Dr. John Hagan of Manomet to pioneer technology that appears to beat the green crab.