News from Maine Sea Grant | Summer 2018

A note from our new Director, Gayle Zydlewski

 

“I am excited to join the Maine Sea Grant team and support marine science for Maine people. I am so LUCKY to jump into such a well-established team that continues to enhance our coast by extending sound science to our communities. I look forward to working with the staff and endless partners who make up the Sea Grant network (family). Collectively we are privileged to have strong support from our federal delegation that sends us into a new fiscal year full of new opportunities. Many of you have taken me up on the opportunity to share your thoughts on how I can be an effective leader in this new role. Please, continue to share your ideas: call (207-581-1422), [log in to unmask]" target="_blank" style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(0,112,179);border-bottom:none">email, or catch me on campus. Let’s work together to make a difference for our coastal communities.”

- Gayle Zydlewski

 

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS

Congratulations to graduating students!

• Robert Boenish
• Jacque Miller
• Catherine Thompson
• Aliya Utenova
• Dongmei Xie

Congratulations to recipients of the 2018-2019 Maine Sea Grant undergraduate scholarship in marine sciences:

• Rachel Bonney, Joseph Denny, Kai La Spina, Elizabeth Piotrowski (University of Maine)
• Emma Ober (College of the Atlantic)
• Michele Condon, Austin Flanigan (University of New England)
• Maggie MacMahon (Maine Maritime Academy)

Welcome to Hanna Deon, science communications assistant based at the Darling Marine Center this summer.

OUTREACH & EXTENSION HIGHLIGHTS

Congratulations to Chris Bartlett, who received the Natural Resources Protector and Educator Award from The Commons in Eastport.

Congratulations to Kristen Grant, who received the Outstanding Individual Outreach Award from the Northeast Sea Grant Consortium for the Southern Maine Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program.

Congratulations to Dana Morse, who received the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation’s Healthy Food Champion Award, part of the Portland Press Herald’s Source Awards.

Natalie Springuel just returned from Newfoundland with College of the Atlantic students, studying community resiliency in outports impacted by the cod moratorium of 26 years ago.

The Signs of the Seasons New England Phenology Program, coordinated by Esperanza Stancioff and Beth Bisson with assistance from Elisabeth Maxwell, provides data to advance climate change research, improves understanding of climate science, and increases climate stewardship activities in Maine and New Hampshire. In 2017, volunteer observers made more than 850 site visits and recorded more than 42,000 observations of the program’s 19 indicator species in Maine and New Hampshire, including rockweed and common loon.
>>Read the full 2017 activity report.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Ready Seafood has announced that they will provide the funding to continue the study of lobsters in deep water, a project by UMaine researcher Richard Wahle that was supported by Sea Grant for the first two years.
>>For the latest on American lobster trends, see the American Lobster Settlement Index update.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has modified its stock assessment for Northern shrimp based on Maine Sea Grant research findings. Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) are an important species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Since 2010, however, the stock has declined precipitously, and the fishery has been closed since 2013. Yong Chen of the University of Maine has been working to improve the models used for stock assessments by incorporating the size of the animals and other aspects of their biology. In a separate project, Sea Grant program development funds supported the purchase of temperature and depth loggers, which were deployed during the state’s shrimp sampling program. The ASMFC has incorporated the temperature data and new size-structured assessment model for use in the stock assessment.

Sea Grant research on storms and related coastal impacts is featured in the latest issue of UMaine Today.

EVENTS

17 July | Sea-Run Fish of Cobscook Bay | Cobscook Community Learning Center

27 July | Voices of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum II | Coastal Conversations on WERU Community Radio

10-12 August | Maine Boat & Home Show | Rockland

24 August | Schoodic to Schoodic Landscape Conservation | Coastal Conversations on WERU Community Radio

25 August | Head Harbor Passage Seabird Trip | Maine Audubon + Eastport Windjammers

Ongoing | Beholdings Exhibit | Mount Desert Island Historical Society Somesville Museum

Ongoing | Lobstering & The Maine Coast | Maine Maritime Museum

PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA

Natalie Springuel was quoted by the Press Herald in a story about cruise ship tourism.

Research by Doug Rasher, Thew Suskkiewicz, and Bob Steneck is part of Wendy Mitman Clarke’s story “For the love of science and sailing” in Cruising World. Read more about the project in Maine Biz

Maine’s Climate Future and other Sea Grant climate resources cited by the Bangor Daily News and the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Heart of the Sea, an article about the lake lives of river herring, in Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Magazine.

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

Five interpretive panels about the ecology, history, and restoration of the Bagaduce River watershed have been installed at Pierce’s Pond in the Town of Penobscot.