Maine Sea Grant welcomes Fisheries Extension Associate
Maine Sea Grant is excited to welcome Alicia Gaiero to the Marine Extension Team as a Fisheries Extension Associate. Gaiero will be responsible for helping to coordinate a community engagement program for an Innovative Fishing Gear Library project led by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), focusing on the American lobster industry. She will be based in Brunswick, and will also work to establish a Sea Grant office in Machias to better serve the Downeast region.
“I’m excited to join this dynamic team! Having built and operated my own oyster farm, I come from an aquaculture background and am eager to deepen my understanding of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery,” said Gaiero. “In my new role as a Fisheries Extension Associate, I’ll support coordination and collaboration among project partners, streamline communication, and help organize meetings, events, and activities to advance our work.”
Gaiero graduated from University of Maine at Farmington in 2020 where studied geography and environmental policy and planning with a concentration in economics. She also earned certifications in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Maine at Farmington and Regulatory Ethics from the University of Southern Maine.
Post-graduation, Gaiero worked alongside her two younger sisters to establish Nauti Sisters Sea Farm, an oyster farm located in Yarmouth, Maine, which the family continues to operate. Within the last five years, the business established partnerships with universities and workforce development programs, and launched commercial farm tours to educate visitors from the U.S. and Canada about the Maine seafood industry.
Before joining Maine Sea Grant, Gaiero was a team member at BlueTrace as a business development representative, where she worked to help seafood producers and distributors adopt technology to improve regulatory compliance. Her time at BlueTrace allowed her to work with seafood companies throughout the Northeastern U.S., which provided further insight into the seafood industry’s needs and concerns, all of which will be useful in her new role as Maine Sea Grant’s Fisheries Extension Associate
“We are thrilled to welcome Alicia as our new Fisheries Extension Associate,” said Maine Sea Grant Director Gayle Zydlewski. “Alicia brings an important set of skills, interests, and breadth of relationships within the Maine fishing community to her role supporting the American lobster industry.”
Gaiero holds a US Coast Guard Master’s Captain License. In her free time, you might find her sewing, skiing, or looking to experience new cultures and adventures around the Maine coast.
Posted 18 February 2025