Owning Our Future

EIGHTBRINGING FORTH A WORLDFrom Individualism to Community

The ground crunches beneath my feet as pavement gives way to dirt, dirt gives way to beach, and the beach slopes to the water where the Gulf of Maine stretches to the horizon. A small white lobster boat pulls into the dock below. Nearby, a handcrafted sign nailed to a tree tells me this is the North End Lobster Co-op—one of the more than 20 lobster cooperatives found in Maine. All around stand towering piles of lobster traps, six high, each as large as an end table. Behind me, a clutch of lobster boats are stacked in shelves, out of the water for the season. Winter is coming on, and most co-op members have stopped lobstering, though a few hardy souls will remain at it all year. A yellow ...