In August we posted about the current boom in the lobster catch in Maine and about concerns that it could end in a bust. After years of averages catches of around 20 million pounds of lobster per year, Maine’s 5,500 lobster-men landed a record 125 million pounds of lobsters last year. This has driven the market price of lobster down from a price t the dock of around $6 per pound in 2005 to current prices of as low as $2.20 per pound. These low prices have been squeezing Maine lobstermen whose cost have risen as the prices have dropped. Even with a larger catch, the low prices make it far harder to turn a profit.
To increase their bargaining power, some lobstermen have joined the Maine Lobsterman’s Union,a new union organized by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. So far, the union has signed up 600 members — 240 of whom have paid dues.
My younger son, a senior in high school, mentioned to me a few mornings ago that the newest version of the historical action-adventure video game, 
In our 
Award-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid has designed a family of super-yachts with a skeletal superstructure for the German shipbuilders Blohm+Voss. These are the first super-yachts designed by Hadid who is known for a wide range of project including the Roca London Gallery, the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany, MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome and thethe Aquatics Centre built in London for last summer’s Olympics.
Google has been causing quite a stir on the waterfront. Two mysterious barges have appeared, one on the Pacific in 
Today is the first anniversary of 
Last week, two rare oarfish washed up (or in the case of the first was dragged up) on the shores of Southern California. Yesterday, Japan was stuck by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. A coincidence? It seems that there is Japanese folklore that says that sighting of oarfish portends a coming earthquake. Oarfish are the longest bony fish in the ocean and can grow up to around 17 meters or 56 feet long. The two that washed up in California were only 18′ and 14′ long, which is still very impressive. Oarfish, which tend to stay in deep water, are rarely seen on the surface. When they do make an appearance they are understandably often referred to as “sea serpents,” given their long snake-like bodies. It is easy to understand how they might be useful in folklore as a predictor of ill-tidings. If sea serpents start appearing, something bad must be coming. In Japan, the oarfish is traditionally known as the “Messenger from the Sea God’s Palace.” (If the Sea God is sending you a message, it is better sent by a sea serpent rather than a sea bass.)
The first US Navy “
At about the same time that the Forrestal was sent to scrap, Bath Iron Works in Maine floated