Serenity often comes to Naskeag Harbor on windless afternoons just after the turning of low tide, when the light is fading on the slack tide. That’s what you see here:
That’s when fishing vessels seem like pastured work horses that are fenced in by high-water lines on granite. It’s when the boats can point any way they want without being harassed into uniformity by a tide, current, and/or wind.
However, there apparently also is a less pleasing reality now at Naskeag Harbor and other working harbors in Down East Maine. I’m told that the prices that fishermen have been getting for lobsters this season are not keeping up with the increasing costs of fishing for the tasty crustaceans. Those costs include, among others, the cost of fuel, bait, sternmen’s wages, and set-asides for replacement of worn-out equipment.
Let’s hope that the market becomes more realistic before fishermen decide that lobstering this year is not worth the significant effort. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 11, 2022.)