Maine Sea Grant

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 […]

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 […]

Pat White Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation PO Box 523 Kennebunk, ME 04043 207-985-8088 The commercial lobster fishery, the economic engine for so many coastal communities in the Gulf of Maine, is undergoing extreme changes. In 2008, an apparent drop in landings, lower prices paid to lobstermen for their product, and rising fuel and bait […]

Scott Hall Research Coordinator Audubon Seabird Restoration Program Belfast, ME 04915 Most information about Atlantic puffins is derived from studies of their breeding colonies on Maine's outer coastal islands. Where they go during the winter, when they are thought to roam the ocean from the Gulf of Maine to Greenland and Iceland, however, is still […]