Maine Sea Grant

Gillian Garratt-Reed Island Institute 386 Main Street Rockland, ME 207.594.9209 ggarratt-reed@islandinstitute.org Community engagement in discussions related to the marine environment are often hampered because Maine’s coastal residents do not have access to clear, accurate translations of the complex scientific and technical factors needed to make informed decisions. To fill this gap, in 2010 The Working […]

Samuel Truesdell samuel.truesdell@maine.edu Sea scallops are an important resource for Maine communities, at times being second only to lobster in fisheries value. However, fluctuations in the resource and corresponding management have left production at an all-time low. As scalloping provides winter employment for many Maine fishermen, the lack of recent production is of great concern. […]

George Kidder III Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory Box 35, Old Bar Harbor Road Salisbury Cove, ME 04672 207.288.9880 x421 gkidder@mdibl.org Eelgrass is a valued component of shallow-water estuaries that provides habitat for many species, including juvenile mussels and fish, and helps maintain clean water. Eelgrass beds are disappearing in many areas for various and […]

Steve Coghlan 5755 Nutting Hall, Room 240 University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2880 Many streams in Maine’s coastal watersheds once provided habitat for sea-run (or anadromous) fishes like Atlantic salmon and alewives, but populations of these fish have declined or disappeared as a result of centuries of dam construction and pollution. A growing number […]

Cheryl Daigle Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition http://www.penobscotriver.org/content/4074/Penobscot_River_Revival_Festival/ The first Penobscot River Revival, a festival on the Bangor waterfront in July 2008, was imagined as a way to celebrate the restoration of the Penobscot River. The event was modeled after the successful Spring Running event, which Sea Grant has also supported. Well over 500 people attended […]

Samuel Truesdell School of Marine Sciences 225 Libby Orono, ME 04469 207.581.4405 Truesdell’s dissertation research focuses on harvester effort in the federal scallop fishery. Data from highly mobile and scattered harvesters can lead to misinterpretation of fishery statistics. In Maine, where some areas have been closed to scallop fishing, harvesters are redistributing effort, potentially clouding […]

Aria Amirbahman Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 5711 Boardman Orono, ME 04469 207.581.1277 aria@umit.maine.edu Estuarine and coastal sediments release dissolved organic carbon (DOC) due to the high level of organic matter decay brought about by microbial activity, particularly sulfate reduction. High levels of DOC can lead to mobilization of toxic metals and chemicals. DOC […]

Malcolm Burson Maine Department of Environmental Protection 17 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333 207.287.7755 Email Malcolm Burson Maine has been a leader in addressing climate change and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including being the first state to pass a law with specific greenhouse gas reduction targets. While these mitigation efforts must continue, the […]

Ben Fuller Penobscot Marine Museum Searsport, ME 207.548.2529 x207   In April 2010, Bumblebee Foods announced the closure of the Stinson Seafood Plant in Prospect Harbor, Maine, the last sardine cannery in the United States. Realizing the significance of this event, Ben Fuller of the Penobscot Marine Museum mobilized a documentary film crew from the University […]

Herring Gut Learning Center PO Box 286, 9 Factory Road Port Clyde, ME 04855 207.372.8677 With many stocks of wild seafood in decline, aquaculture provides a sustainable source of local, healthy food. The Herring Gut Learning Center in Port Clyde trained two local science classes in fish and produce production as part of the “egg […]