Maine Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries (Orono Field Station) are pleased to announce a new collaborative oral history project exploring fishermen’s biological and cultural knowledge about river herring and American eel fisheries in eastern Maine.  The oral histories will be featured in interpretive and outreach material related to the Downeast Fisheries Trail. With funding from NOAA’s Preserve America Initiative, UMaine dual master’s degree candidate, Julia Beaty, has been hired to conduct the oral history interviews and develop outreach materials during the winter and spring of 2014.

Extension Team member, Dana Morse, is working with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and numerous industry partners to test aquaculture production methods for sea scallops with the goal of learning how to safely, sustainably, and profitably cultivate sea scallops in cages. The Bangor Daily News produced a feature article on the project in November.  

In August, Maine Sea Grant organized and hosted a second annual Seaweed Scene workshop in Belfast, Maine, followed by a three-hour class on kelp farming techniques. More than 120 attendees listened to presentations from science and industry experts, and participated in facilitated discussions to help share ideas and set priorities for future seaweed aquaculture research, culture and wild harvest industry development, and related outreach and education initiatives in Maine. The Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center provided funding for the event. 

Extension Team member, Kristen Grant, is working with Southern Maine municipalities and the Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Sea Coast to organize and lead workforce housing design workshops (“charrettes”) that engage citizens, architects, planners, realtors, bankers, developers and others in creating and considering a range of livable development options for their communities. Designs that emerged from two charrettes in the Town of Wells in October are currently under review by the Wells Board of Selectmen.

Maine, Massachusetts, and South Carolina Sea Grant Programs are partnering with the Social and Environmental Research Institute, in Greenfield, MA, and fishing communities in the three states to co-develop climate change planning and adaptation strategies. Extension Team member, Esperanza Stancioff, and project partners are conducting interviews with fishermen, leading modeling workshops, and facilitating a climate change adaptation planning process with the lobstering community of South Thomaston, ME. The project goal is to help communities explore local vulnerabilities and potential consequences and develop best practices for “fishing smarter, not harder” in the face of climate change. 

Maine Sea Grant and UMaine researchers are working with the City of Ellsworth to develop climate adaptation planning tools related to managing stormwater infrastructure to cope with changes in the frequency and seasonal timing of extreme storm events. With funding from the NOAA National Sea Grant Program, the project team is developing an interactive process for mapping complex governance structures and event scenarios to determine infrastructure management priorities, as well as a series of educational materials for residents. They recently worked with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network to produce a documentary called Culvert Operations. 

Supporting sea vegetable aquaculture in Maine (Susan H. Brawley, University of Maine) 

Evaluating performance of length-structured models for assessment of northern shrimp and Atlantic herring in the Gulf of Maine (Yong Chen, University of Maine) 

Variation in habitat use of juvenile life stages of river herring (Karen A. Wilson, University of Southern Maine)

Coastal flooding and erosion from severe storms in a changing climate (Qingping Zou, University of Maine)

Maine Sea Grant has also committed $25,000 per year for two years to support three regional social science research projects selected by the Northeast Sea Grant Consortium.