Saving Seafood

MAINE: Maine Sea Grant students helping state conserve endangered Atlantic salmon

July 22, 2025 — Atlantic Salmon have been on the brink of extinction for more than two decades, but through conservation efforts researchers in Maine are working to improve the species growth while also building the next generation of marine scientists.

From fish stocking to lab work, students are diving into efforts to help conserve the endangered Atlantic salmon along the Gulf of Maine this summer though a program offered by Maine Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries.

“We take genetic samples and scale samples and all kinds of stuff, so we can continue to have data on them into the future,” said Maine Sea Grant Intern Wade Hill.

Read the full article at Fox 22 

MAINE: Maine Sea Grant helping state conserve Atlantic salmon

July 15, 2025 — Whether it’s through fish stocking, habitat restoration or research, the University of Maine-led Maine Sea Grant is helping the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) conserve Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine — the last wild populations of the species in the U.S.

Through a program offered by Maine Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries that is now in its sixth year, paid summer interns have been working with the department on Atlantic salmon research and conservation for 13 weeks each summer — from Downeast Maine to the Kennebec and Penobscot River watersheds. They conduct field and lab work to support this endangered species and other sea-run fishes.

“The Maine Sea Grant internship program not only supports the restoration of sea-run fish like Atlantic salmon but also fosters a two-way exchange of knowledge with the department,” said Sean Ledwin, the director of DMR’s Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat. “The interns learn firsthand from experienced professionals in the field, while bringing fresh energy, new ideas and capacity to vital restoration efforts. This collaboration strengthens conservation outcomes and builds the next generation of marine scientists and stewards.”

“This program emphasizes collaborations and partnerships that expose students to different career paths to help conserve vital species and support Maine ecosystems, economies and cultures,” said Julia Hiltonsmith, a UMaine Sea Grant graduate assistant who mentors sea-run fish interns. “Guiding these interns through their fieldwork has not only deepened my appreciation for the dedication they’ve brought to conservation but also reinforced the importance of fostering collaboration and professional growth in the next generation of marine scientists.”

Since the Sea-Run Fish Internship Program launched in 2020, 12 students from UMaine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias, have participated and conducted research and conservation work statewide for DMR, the United States Geological Survey, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Penobscot Nation. Black Bear students, as well as participants from other universities, have gained hands-on learning experiences and professional development in science communication, which prepare them for in-demand careers in marine sciences and conservation.

Read the full article at University of Maine

MAINE: Maine Sea Grant regains funding after industry, congressional pushback

March 6, 2025 — The Maine Sea Grant program, which saw its funding pulled by the U.S. federal government, has regained its funding after an outcry from the industry and the state’s congressional delegation.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump killed the funding for Maine Sea Grant – a partnership between the federal government and the U.S. state of Maine overseen by the University of Maine system – on 28 February. According to the university, in 2023, the program converted USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.4 million) in federal funding into USD 23.5 million (EUR 21.7 million) in economic benefits for the state.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Of the nearly three dozen Sea Grant programs, Maine’s seems to be the only one cut

March 4, 2025 — Maine appears to be the only state whose federal grant boosting research and economic development for coastal communities was terminated.

The University of Maine said it was notified late Friday that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was immediately discontinuing funding for the $4.5 million Maine Sea Grant, said university spokesperson Samantha Warren.

The grant has helped finance statewide research, strengthened coastal communities, and supported thousands of jobs over more than five decades. However, the letter from NOAA said the grant’s work is “no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives.”

Maine’s Sea Grant program is one of 34 across coastal and Great Lakes states throughout the country. As of mid-Monday, the New Hampshire Sea Grant had not received a similar notice, said Director Erik Chapman. Similarly, Fiscal Officer Caroline Johnston was not aware of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant receiving a notification about funding cuts.

Both Chapman and Warren said they were unaware of any program’s termination beyond Maine.

Pointing out that there is little information about the reasoning behind the cut, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree argued in a statement that the decision shows President Donald Trump has a “personal vendetta against our state.” The funding cut came about a week after Trump threatened Gov. Janet Mills after a heated exchange over the state not complying with an executive order barring transgender students from competing in women’s athletics.

Read the full article at The Laconia Daily Sun

MAINE: Trump administration terminates Maine Sea Grant

March 3, 2025 — The Maine Sea Grant program was abruptly ended by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, amid sweeping cutbacks to NOAA’s budget.

The news came Saturday during the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, an annual industry gathering in Rockland that Maine Sea Grant first helped organize in the 1980s. The Trump administration budget ax would cut $1.5 million in funding this year, $4.5 million through January 2028 and affect 20 Sea Grant workers at the University of Maine in Orono and the state’s small coastal ports.  

“It has been determined that the program activities proposed to be carried out in Year 2 of the Maine Sea Grant Omnibus Award are no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives,” stated a notification letter from NOAA to University of Maine officials.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Groups question aquaculture “roadmap”

May 5, 2022 — A group of scientists, students and organizations earlier this spring wrote a letter to the director of the Maine Sea Grant program expressing concern about a recently released 10-year plan for the state’s growing aquaculture industry.

The Maine Aquaculture Roadmap 2022-2032 was produced by the Maine Aquaculture Hub, a network founded by five organizations: Maine Sea Grant, the Maine Aquaculture Association, the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, Coastal Enterprises Inc. and the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute. Prior to the report’s release, the writers held a series of focus groups to gather input from interested parties, including aquaculturists, fishermen, government agencies, academics, environmental groups, nonprofits and others.

But critics, in a letter to Gayle Zydlewski, director of Maine Sea Grant, voiced concerns regarding “the framing; timing; representativeness of participants; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and limited focus on education.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

 

New report sets broad goals for Maine’s aquaculture industry in the next decade

April 15, 2022 — In the last 8 years, Maine’s aquaculture harvest has more than doubled in volume and in value, and some predict that the state’s aquaculture exports could be worth as much as $800 million by 2025. A new report is recommending how that growth should be managed over the next decade. But critics say it’s too focused on expanding the industry, and gives short shift to other users of the ocean commons or the ecosystems that they all depend on.

The document sets broad goals for aquaculture’s next decade in Maine, starting with streamlined permitting for public water leases that “balances the rights of the applicant and the public.

And it identifies the potential costs of specific actions: $100,000, for instance, to support a state employee who would help applicants get through the permitting process and engage with host communities, $100,000 to integrate aquaculture into K-12 education, and a quarter million dollars to create a Maine Seafood Council to market both farmed and wild-caught seafood.

“It’s one tool that can be used along with the many tools the state has in thinking about the future,” said Gayle Zydlewski, who directs Maine Sea Grant, a federal-state program housed at the University of Maine that led a collaborative effort to create the so-called Maine Aquaculture Roadmap.

Read the full story at Maine Public

‘Roadmap’ plots aquaculture’s needs, future in Maine

February 2, 2022 — As aquaculture and its contribution to the state economy grow, so does the need to support it. 

The Maine Aquaculture Association and Maine Sea Grant released the Maine Aquaculture Roadmap 2022-2032 last week, a 10-year plan developed with feedback from nearly 100 organizations and companies. It outlines four main goals and identifies $15 million in resources needed to strengthen the commercial aquaculture industry and working waterfronts across the state. 

“Aquaculture is clearly a priority for Maine, and we needed a forward-looking, research-driven plan to responsibly sustain Maine’s marine farming sector. Now we have one that supports Maine’s farm families and the future of the working waterfront,” said Fiona de Koning, a shellfish farmer and owner of Acadia Aqua Farms in Bar Harbor. 

A 2017 economic impact report by the Aquaculture Research Institute at the University of Maine noted that the economic impact of aquaculture tripled between 2007 and 2014, from $50 million to $137 million. 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Report: $15M investment needed to bolster Maine aquaculture over next decade

January 27, 2022 — Maine’s aquaculture sector has been steadily growing in recent years, and a new industry report identifies over $15 million in resources that may be needed to continue that growth over the next decade.

The Maine Aquaculture Roadmap 2022-32 was released Tuesday by the Maine Aquaculture Hub, Maine Sea Grant and Maine Aquaculture Association.

The roadmap was developed with feedback from approximately 150 stakeholders representing nearly 100 different organizations and companies operating in Maine’s marine economy.

The plan is based on the premise that sustainable aquaculture has tremendous potential to bolster Maine’s coastal economy by providing good jobs, local food security and diversification opportunities for working waterfront families.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

 

NOAA awards $2M in climate-related lobster research 

November 9, 2021 — Several  Maine scientists have received federal funding to learn how the American lobster is affected by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine and across New England.   

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  Sea Grant  announced $2 million in grant s late last mont h for six projects as part of the American Lobster Initiative. The initiative looks to bridge critical gaps in knowledge for Maine’s iconic species.  

“Given the importance of lobster to the economy and culture of Maine, I’m thrilled to have these new projects join the growing initiative,” said Amalia Harrington, a marine extension team member with Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine. “The more we learn now, the better prepared our lobster industry will be in the future.”  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander