Maine Sea Grant

Rick Wahle Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences 189 McKown Point Road West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575 Email Rick Wahle 207.633.9659 In the 1980s, a disconnect between what lobstermen were seeing at sea and what scientists were saying led to a new approach to marine ecology. Scientists began to recognize the importance of larval dynamics to […]

Dwayne Shaw Downeast Salmon Federation PO Box 201 Columbia Falls, ME 04623 207.483.4336 dsf@panax.com As coastal fish populations disappear, so too do the fishing communities they once supported. Fisheries heritage projects seek to highlight and conserve fishing traditions past and present, through education and information provided to residents and visitors. The Downeast Salmon Federation occupies […]

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 […]

Jennifer Atkinson Quebec-Labrador Foundation, Inc. PO Box 335 Waldoboro, ME 04572 207.832.8109 jatkinson@qlf.org Atkinson calls circulation “the geography of the ocean,” because it influences virtually every aspect of a marine area. Yet local circulation dynamics are not always understood, hampering our ability to manage local uses and monitor movements of marine organisms. Muscongus Bay is […]

Sarah Nelson Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental & Watershed Research 5710 Norman Smith Hall Orono, ME 04469 207.581.3454 Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the United States. EPA and FDA seafood consumption advisories suggest that shrimp is a low-mercury food, however this information is based on data that represent only a few […]

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 […]

Jennifer Brewer Penobscot East Resource Center PO Box 27 Stonington, ME 04681 207.367.2708 brewerj@ecu.edu Traditional fishery management approaches have failed to sustain a diverse fishing industry in eastern Maine. New approaches are attempting to increase participation of fishing communities in management, by enhancing local leadership and knowledge. The Penobscot East Resource Center developed the Community […]

Rob Snyder Island Institute P.O. Box 648 386 Main Street Rockland, Maine 04841 207.594.9209 www.workingwaterfront.com Recognizing an increased demand for scientific and technical information about current issues facing coastal communities, and a concomitant fragmentation of media outlets, the Island Institute and Maine Sea Grant are collaborating on a new science feature in The Working Waterfront […]

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 […]

Barry Costa-Pierce Rhode Island Sea Grant South Ferry Road Narragansett, RI 02882 401.874.6800 bcp@gso.uri.edu The development of offshore renewable energy systems is an international priority driven by the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and decrease human impacts on global climate. This symposium was an opportunity to document progress toward a new vision […]