Business & Development

Scallop fishermen like Jeff Sullivan could still have their fishing boats but be unable to make any money with them if legislation proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is enacted.

Bad weather, rising costs and a sharp drop in price caused by a weakened U.S. dollar are leaving fishermen apprehensive at the start of the New Brunswick lobster season, which opened on November 13. Catches, though, are picking up now that the winds have died down.

A Canadian company is opening a call center in the former Wareknitters building in Calais. Acrobat Research, which collects market research data, plans to hire over 200 employees and begin operations there in January.

A request by Downeast LNG to withdraw its application before the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at Mill Cove in Robbinston was denied October 25 by the board in a 5-3 vote.

Pembroke's Big Hill is once again attracting a prospector. This time it is Golden Hope Mines Ltd. of Quebec. The Big Hill prospect is located near Route 214 and Old County Road.

A market study estimates that a racino in Calais proposed by the Passamaquoddy Tribe could generate between $11.9 million and $13 million annually in slot machine revenue.