Saving Seafood

UNH deploys new underwater sensor system near Isles of Shoals

September 3, 2026 — A new tool to measure environmental conditions in the Gulf of Maine off New Hampshire’s shoreline is now up and running.

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire and partners deployed acoustic and oceanographic sensors near the Isles of Shoals. The system is the first of its kind on the East Coast.

Located 10 miles offshore and 3 miles east of Appledore Island, the system will transmit oceanographic and acoustic data in real time.

“Measurements made with this valuable ocean asset will serve as a baseline for analyses of environmental conditions in this busy, productive area of the Gulf of Maine,” said Jennifer Miksis-Olds, director of UNH’s Center for Acoustics Research and Education and interim vice president for research and innovation. “This will expand our understanding of the ocean in real time.”

The sensors will detect human and marine mammal activity, wind and precipitation, sea ice dynamics and oceanographic features, with implications for national security, energy development and commercial fisheries, officials said.

The data is also expected to shed light on the connections between coastal measurements and the overall Gulf of Maine environment.

Read the full article at Union Leader

Where do female lobsters release their eggs?

November 10th, 2016 — The decline of the American lobster population from the southern edge of its range in Long Island Sound stands in stark contrast to to the explosion in the number of landed lobsters in the colder Gulf of Maine waters the past few years.

Scientists are wondering what is going on with the important fishery, particularly as greenhouse gas emissions are blamed for a warming of ocean water. Are lobsters heading to colder water to hatch their young?

A study just funded by the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire will look at the issue off the Isles of Shoals, next summer. Starting next June, eight to 14 egg-bearing lobsters will receive hydroaccoustic tags and be tracked as they carry eggs and hatch them. The study will be off the Isles of Shoals.

Joshua Carloni, biologist in the marine division of New Hampshire Fish and Game, said it has been traditionally thought that female lobsters move to warmer water with their eggs in spring and release them there. But a 2012 study suggested they are moving to deeper water to hatch their eggs.

“Why that is we don’t know,”said Carloni. “We believe, historically this is what they have done, but it have not documented. The implications with warming water are known.” This study could possibly provide “concrete evidence that lobsters are moving to deep water once their eggs begin to hatch.”

Read the full story at WMUR 9