Save the date! The biennial Maine Sea Grant Research Symposium will take place on Friday, April 20, 2018, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the University of Maine campus in Orono. The symposium takes place during UMaine Impact Week. An agenda and R.S.V.P. link will be posted in early March.

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS

The National Sea Grant College Program has awarded prestigious Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships to three University of Maine graduates who will spend the next year working in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.

OUTREACH & EXTENSION HIGHLIGHTS

Keri Kaczor has been selected for the position of the Alliance for Maine's Marine Economy coordinator. The Alliance is a network of more than 20 Maine-based organizations dedicated to ensuring that Maine seafood, fishing and aquaculture industries, and the natural and innovation ecosystems on which they depend, are healthy and benefit Maine people. Kaczor, who previously coordinated Maine Healthy Beaches, will remain a member of the Sea Grant and UMaine Extension Marine Extension Team, based at the Knox-Lincoln County Extension Office in Waldoboro.

The Marine Extension Team welcomed Meagan Sims, the newly appointed coordinator of Maine Healthy Beaches, the state's only unified, quality-assured program to monitor water quality and protect public health on Maine's valued coastal beaches. Sims has been with the program since 2013, and will continue to work with diverse partners to identify and remove pollution sources in coastal watersheds.

Elisabeth Maxwell has joined the Signs of the Seasons New England Phenology Program as assistant coordinator.

The Aquaculture in Shared Waters training and education program for fishing families is continuing this winter, with two courses running simultaneously, in Georgetown and Machias. Since the program began in 2013, more than 30 people have started or joined aquaculture businesses in Maine.

Have you ever gone into a meeting not knowing exactly why you’re there or what you’re supposed to accomplish? Then you left the meeting feeling the same way? If so, you may not have been terribly enthusiastic to go back again. Most of us have had an experience like this because it’s fairly common that people running meetings don’t really have the skills they need to do it very effectively. These skills are known as facilitation, and although they don’t come naturally and are rarely taught, having them can help in your professional and community work. With assistance from Kristen Grant, UMaine Cooperative Extension is offering facilitation skills training in southern Maine, with a course currently underway in Sanford.

First person stories about Winter Harbor’s fisheries heritage are now part of the Winter Harbor Historical Society’s audio collection! A multimedia story map about these interviews can be viewed at the Winter Harbor Fisheries Oral History Project. Conducted in the Fall of 2017, with leadership from Natalie Springuel and in partnership with College of the Atlantic and Island Institute, the project captured the stories, memories, and perspectives of local fishermen and their families, local marine businesses and fellow community members. The focus of the interviews was on the community’s connections to the waters surrounding the Schoodic Peninsula and the larger context of fisheries in Maine. Topics ranged from fishing past and present, getting product to market, changes in the industry and changes in the Winter Harbor region.

Do you have a fishing story to tell? Are you going to this year's Maine Fishermen's Forum, March 1-3, at the Samoset in Rockland, Maine? Then look for the Airstream parked out front and plan to step aboard and be interviewed! Every Forum attendee is welcome to hop on The First Coast mobile recording studio to participate in oral history interviews conducted by students and professionals.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Maine Sea Grant has awarded funds to faculty at UMaine and other research institutions statewide for four new research projects representing nearly $1,000,000 in research investment from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and matching sources.

Sea Grant researchers Richard Wahle, Maura Niemisto, and Skylar Bayer will be presenting their work at the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Sea Grant Communications Director Catherine Schmitt is also presenting in a session on innovative communication strategies, co-hosted by friends from Minnesota Sea Grant.

EVENTS

2-4 March | Maine Fishermen’s Forum | Rockport, ME

5 March | Lessons Learned From Efforts to Rebuild Anadromous Alewife Populations in Downeast Maine | Orono, ME

29 March | Maine Sustainability & Water Conference | Augusta, ME

20 April | Maine Sea Grant Research Symposium | Orono, ME

14-17 May | National Working Waterfronts and Waterways Symposium | Grand Rapids, MI

Ongoing | Lobstering & The Maine Coast | Maine Maritime Museum

PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA

Reading the genetic signature of the sea scallop, UMaine News

Native American secrets lie buried in huge shell mounds, The New York Times

Lost to the Sea Alice and Joseph Kelley survey Maine’s fragile shell middens to preserve the ancient history of the archaeological sites, UMaine Today

Sea Run Fishes of Maine posters, featuring artwork by Karen Talbot. Stop by our office or give us a call if you’d like one.