by Dana Morse A few years ago my colleague Catherine Schmitt created a Maine Oyster Trail, a tool to help people find where to connect with farmers, and what restaurants they could find, to enjoy Maine oysters. Here’s a brief update and some additional information on Maine oysters, tourism, and why this map is so […]
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A look back at the first day of winter as we approach the first day of spring. by Chris Bartlett I enjoy exploring Maine’s coast during the colder months and the bays around our home in Eastport are really special. High tides in this region cause roiling currents that bring copepods, krill and small fish […]
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Salarius means “of salt” in Latin. Because salt once constituted a form of currency, Salarius also refers to salt money, an allowance, pay. The ocean pays back, sustains us; it provides food, oxygen, and a livelihood for the people of Maine pas, present, and (hopefully) future. For the authors of this blog, Salarius encompasses all […]
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by Natalie Springuel Recently, about 20 tourism industry leaders from Downeast Maine and Southwest New Brunswick piled into a bus and went on a tour of the region. For nearly four days, we traveled from Saint John New Brunswick to Bucksport Maine, on a world wind tour of the target area of the Two Nation […]
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by Catherine Schmitt The Salarius blog has been running for nearly three years. In that time, I’ve covered the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico; the Boston Seafood Show; restaurants and festivals that serve Maine seafood; Sea Grant-funded research on seafood; lobster, oysters, shrimp, scallops, alewives, smelt, sardines, crab, eel, salmon, and […]
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Today’s post comes from marine extension associate Chris Bartlett. Chris is based in Eastport, and for the past few years he helped monitor populations of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), which is considered a species of special concern. As a result, Chris has learned a lot about these little fish. I was driving home from work […]
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by Catherine Schmitt The alewives are running. Jeffrey Pierce, Executive Director of the Alewife Harvesters of Maine, reports that alewives are appearing coastwide. I contacted Jeff because of an interest in tracking the timing of the alewife run as a way to extend the Signs of the Seasons phenology monitoring program to coastal flora and […]
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by Catherine Schmitt Just as I anticipated, sustainability messaging was ubiquitous on the trade show floor at the 2013 Boston Seafood Show. Repeated exposure to the word felt less like an illusion and more like dilution. My mind flooded with questionable claims and elusive adjectives, I ducked into one of the seminars for some education. […]
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by Catherine Schmitt 10. We can’t trust our food. An estimated 10% of seafood is not the species it is sold or marketed as, and certain species are more likely to be false than others. 9. People are paying for more than they get – maybe 40% of the time. 8. Faking it is easy. […]
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by Catherine Schmitt As I prepare to head south to the Boston Seafood Show, where I’ll be reporting for The Working Waterfront, I’ve been catching up on the latest national media stories on “sustainable seafood.” I don’t want to take an incredible bite only to find out that the fish I just sampled is not […]
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