Maine Sea Grant

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 […]

Jay Adams Old Fort Western Fund 16 Cony St. Augusta, ME 04330 207.626.2385 oldfort@oldfortwestern.org The success of the third annual Spring Running festival can be attributed to partnerships. The 2008 event had nearly twice the number of attendees from the previous year. The event continues to mobilize citizens and groups around the Augusta area to […]

Deborah Bouchard University of Maine Animal Health Laboratory 5735 Hitchner Hall Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2676 dbouchard@umext.maine.edu Populations of Atlantic cod, once the founding species of coastal New England, are at record low abundances in the Gulf of Maine. Finfish aquaculture provides a means of supplementing declining wild fisheries to meet human demand for sustainable seafood. […]

Dick Clime Coastal Enterprises, Inc. 36 Water St., PO Box 268 Wiscasset, ME 04578 207.882.7552 x191 Email Dick Clime Maine’s commercial fishermen are confronting declining stocks of many fish species and stagnant prices for others, while costs of bait, ice, and fuel have increased. This situation has resulted in decreased incomes and greater risk. Maine […]

John Riley Dept. of Biological and Chemical Engineering University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2715 riley@apollo.umenfa.maine.edu Mick Peterson Dept. of Mechanical Engineering University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2129 mpeterson@umeme.maine.edu Commercial fisheries, maritime shipping, and whale watching are all economically important to Maine. However, they also can negatively impact whales, which can collide with ships […]

Will Hopkins Cobscook Bay Resource Center 4 Favor St. Eastport, ME 04631 207.853.6607 willhopkins@prexar.com Protecting working waterfront and preserving coastal access is a critical need in Maine’s coastal communities. In this pilot project, researchers will interview harbormasters, town officials, and resource users to document public and private access points around Cobscook Bay, geo-locate the sites […]

Thomas Trott Suffolk University 41 Temple Street Boston, MA 02114-4280 617.573.8246 codfish2@earthlink.net Among the New England coastal states, the least is known about invasive species introductions and distributions in Maine. Information about the status of the Maine coastal environment and the health and diversity of habitats impacted by invasive species is needed for local and […]

William Ambrose Carnegie Science Hall Bates College Lewiston, ME 04240 207. 786.6114 wambrose@abacus.bates.edu In the past decade, fishery scientists, managers, and ecologists have expressed increasing concern about the effects of commercial fisheries on benthic communities. Although the effects of dredges and trawls on sub-tidal, hard and soft bottom communities have been studied, very few studies […]

Hilary Neckles USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center 196 Whitten Road Augusta, ME 04330 207-622-8205 ext.119 hneckles@usgs.gov Eelgrass (Zostera marina L) is the dominant seagrass occurring in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, where it often forms extensive meadows in coastal and estuarine areas. Eelgrass beds are extremely productive and provide many valuable ecological functions […]