Matinicus, Maine harbor from shore.

Matinicus, Maine harbor from shore.

Matinicus, Maine harbor from shore. [Maynard Bray description 2B edited: "For the Matinicus photo, it looks to me as if the Friendship sloops, of which there were always many, are out hauling traps, so the harbor is pretty much empty save for a fishing schooner and a pogy steamer anchored behind Wheaton Island in the distance. Otherwise, the activity is with shore fishermen. There's fish cleaning taking place next to the lapstrake peapod where a cleaning bench, or table, has been moved to the water's edge. Can't say what the guy to the left is doing other than climbing out of his dory. Dories predominate, but there are other boat types-like the punt filled with seine twine, a few peapods, and a big seine boat next to the wharf. The two wharves are different from each other, the one to the left (the steamboat dock) having been constructed of laid up blocks of granite, with fender piles driven around it, while the right hand wharf is a crib type whose structure is of big logs held in place by stone fill. The lobster traps are wooden, built with spruce or oak bows and oak laths, and there are several short wooden rollers lying on the beach used for hauling and launching small boats. The small buildings are fish houses, where traps are built and fishing gear is stored. The steamboat dock is still in use and recently was repaired and reinforced."] This collection of lap strake dories, skiffs, and peapods, along with the abundance of traditional wooden lobster traps, says much about the traditional industry of Matinicus Island. The remotest of the Penobscot Bay Islands, sparsely populated, is situated in the midst of some of the most abundant lobster fishing grounds in the world, and most islanders today derive some portion of their income from fishing. Beyond Wheaton's Island in the background, there is no land to the southeast until you hit Portugal. The original white settler of this remote traditional fishing outpost, a squatter named Ebenezer Hall, was killed by local Penobscot people in 1757 after years of Hall's interference with their hunting and fishing. Hall's tenure here dovetails with the island's reputation as a lawless frontier. In the past, visiting sailboats were sometimes scared off by warning gunshots. There has never been any consistent way to enforce traffic or vehicle laws. Disputes have sometimes been settled violently. In recent decades, however, there is a thriving summer population and boasts a number of summer cottages built by off-islanders. Ed Coffin Collection