BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 30, 2025
More than 40 years of pulling lobster traps ruined John Cotton’s shoulders. Cotton, 64, started Ice House Oysters in 2016 to stay working on the water without hiring staff, after he found it difficult to find reliable help. Cotton was working with a federally funded program at UMaine Cooperative Extension called AgrAbility, which helps blue-collar workers overcome disabilities so they can remain on the job. The program was helping him purchase a boat with a mechanical arm. But the program was one of the dozens of federal grants that President Trump has terminated. Cotton’s situation shows how the impact of these cuts has trickled down across the state, including to the ordinary people who make up the state’s heritage industries like fishing, farming and logging.