April 20, 2026 — A new University of Maine study found a possible new threat to lobsters.
They’re working to find out if lobsters are being eaten by a predator species called the cunner fish.
MAINE: UMaine taps into satellite data to help oyster farmers
March 4, 2026 — The University of Maine is rolling out a free satellite-driven model to help oyster farmers predict when their crop will reach market size, bringing high-tech precision to the hunt for the best tidal sites along the state’s coast.
Using satellite data from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the European Space Agency, the model is the foundation of a January research study in the journal Aquaculture. The accuracy was verified by testing it against oyster growth rates at five Maine oyster farms.
The online dashboard is coming out at a time when Maine’s oyster sector is booming.
Between 2015 and 2024, the value of Maine’s wild and farmed oysters jumped from $4.5 million to $14.9 million, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. According to the department’s most recent landings data, oysters are now Maine’s third-most valuable fishery, behind lobsters and soft-shell clams. Ninety-five percent of those landings are farmed oysters; wild oysters make up the rest.
UMaine researchers seeking striped bass remains to study fish’s diet
July 7, 2025 — If you fish for striped bass, researchers at the University of Maine could use the guts.
A graduate student is leading a project to analyze and better understand the feeding habits of the fish.
She says findings may help researchers and wildlife management make more informed decisions regarding the bass and its prey.
She and her colleagues are asking anglers to donate their legal striped bass remains after filleting them to the study.
UMaine research examines best methods for growing Atlantic sea scallops in Penobscot and Frenchman bays
April 7, 2025 — A new study from the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute and Darling Marine Center is helping to refine best practices for growing Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus), a species of increasing interest to Maine’s aquaculture sector.
Published in the academic journal Aquaculture, the research compares two scallop farming methods, ear-hanging and lantern net culture, over a complete grow-out cycle to determine which approach yields the best results for commercial growers, according to a news release from UMaine.
The study, led by UMaine postdoctoral researcher Christopher Noren, provides new insights into how each method influences scallop size and adductor muscle weight, a key factor in market value.
Evaluating Two Common Farming Methods
Maine’s scallop aquaculture industry is still in its early stages, and growers are looking for efficient ways to scale up production. Suspended culture is the most common approach, with farmers typically using multi-tiered lantern nets to grow scallops to a harvestable size. However, this method requires frequent maintenance to manage biofouling — an unwanted accumulation of microorganisms, plants and animals — and to optimize growth conditions.
Ear-hanging, a technique adapted from Japanese scallop farming, offers a potential alternative. This method involves drilling a small hole in the scallop’s shell and suspending it on a line, allowing for better water flow and potentially reducing maintenance needs.
To evaluate the effectiveness of each method, researchers partnered with two commercial scallop farms in Maine’s Penobscot Bay and Frenchman Bay. Over four years, they measured scallop growth and the weight of their adductor muscles, the primary product from scallops that are sold in U.S. seafood markets.
Lobster industry hails UMaine study on economics of Maine fishery
January 30, 2025 — Researchers from the University of Maine have created a new, holistic measure to study the resilience of the Maine lobster industry, which is drawing praise from industry leaders for identifying the structural and market factors that impacted it in recent years.
That industry has seen dramatic fluctuations in value in recent years, spiking to a record USD 724 million (EUR 694 million) in 2021 before dropping to USD 388 million (EUR 372 million) in 2022. The UMaine team said it hopes to quantify some of the challenges causing those flucuations in new ways, which can help fisheries management – something members of the industry said is sorely needed.
UMaine-led research team making new frozen foods from squid fins
January 13, 2024 — Squid has become a staple menu item and ingredient in many seafood restaurants, whether it’s fried, baked, grilled or served raw. In North American markets, however, only about half of each squid is used for culinary applications.
To reduce food waste and open new markets, a University of Maine-led team of researchers and students will devise new frozen food products that can be created from squid fins, one of their byproducts. The project is supported by $229,376 from the NOAA Fisheries Saltonstall-Kennedy Competitive Grants Program.
The group, led by UMaine professor of food science Denise Skonberg, will devise and develop several frozen food prototypes at the Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant in Hitchner Hall using processed fins from North Atlantic longfin and shortfin squid. Possible goods, which will be designed for preparation at home or in restaurants, may include frozen appetizers, entrees, nuggets and sliders. Researchers will recruit people to sample their prototype food products at the UMaine Sensory Testing Center and evaluate them based on appearance, texture, aroma and flavor.
As part of their initial work, UMaine researchers recently invited local chefs to prepare various dishes with squid fins, some of which they may be able to freeze. Those dishes included meatballs, egg rolls and dumplings, all made from squid fins.
MAINE: UMaine researcher who helped reshape marine science in Maine retires
October 3, 2023 — When Bob Steneck came to the University of Maine in 1982, there were few marine ecologists in the state, and none interacted with fishermen. He was among the first in Maine to work with lobstermen on research, traveling with them on their boats, diving to the seafloor to study lobsters and sharing his findings with them.
At that time, there was a scientific consensus that the lobster population in the Gulf of Maine was declining. By working with lobstermen and diving down to the depths of the gulf, Steneck showed that the population was actually on the rise.
Steneck’s work and that of his students and colleagues helped propel an expansion of and change in how lobster fisheries research is conducted in Maine. Over the proceeding decades, Steneck’s students continue collaborating with lobstermen and other fishermen on their studies. They focused more on work that benefitted these industries, the management of Maine fisheries and the coastal communities that relied on them.
“We were able to take a different perspective by studying lobsters in their natural habitat. My hope was to do research to help the people of Maine,” Steneck says. “What came out of this work was research that was collaborative and directed toward improved management of the lobster fishery.”
After a 41-year career at UMaine filled with numerous studies, scientific publications, outreach and teaching the next generation of marine scientists, conservation biologists and leaders, Steneck, professor emeritus of oceanography, marine biology and marine policy has retired.
Steneck’s research helped understand and manage Maine’s most lucrative fishery, now worth almost $400 million. He and his students learned how baby lobsters grow up on the seafloor, what lobsters eat, who eats them and how they sustain their populations. This basic research was also useful for lobstermen, as well as fishery managers and policymakers who must determine the status and trends of lobster stocks.
UMaine leads $3 million study on how warming Arctic affects American lobster in New England, Atlantic Canada
December 20, 2022 — Investigating how a rapidly warming Arctic will affect American lobster populations and the communities that depend on them in New England and Atlantic Canada will be the focus of a University of Maine-led study backed by a $3 million award from the National Science Foundation’s Navigating the New Arctic Program (NNA).
Richard Wahle, director of the university’s Lobster Institute and professor in the School of Marine Sciences, is spearheading the project, dubbed the NNA Lobster Network, joined by 18 other researchers from UMaine, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Columbia University, Florida State University and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Building on long-standing partnerships with the fishing industry, government and academic organizations, the team will investigate how climate-induced Arctic change alters lobster abundance and distribution from coastal Rhode Island to Newfoundland.
NSF funded the study not only as part of its NNA initiative, but also as one of its 10 Big Ideas. The NNA Lobster Network will support investigations into the influence of past and future climate and management scenarios on various physical, biological and socio-economic conditions at different scales; all through cross-sector and cross-border partnerships.
UMaine launches marine product program to help drive the state’s ‘blue economy’
August 31, 2021 — A new University of Maine program aims to deepen partnerships between science and business experts in the state’s fisheries, aquaculture sector and other working-waterfront industries.
UMaine’s Darling Marine Center and Maine Business School are launching the UMaine Blue Economy Program, where students, faculty, communities and industry partners will work together to conduct research and develop products related to Maine’s ocean-based commerce, according to a news release.
The graduate education and research initiative is supported with a $50,000 award from the William Procter Scientific Innovation Fund.
“The UMaine Blue Economy Program builds on more than 55 years of creative collaboration at the Darling Marine Center among scientists, entrepreneurs and other professionals,” Darling’s director, Heather Leslie, said in the release. “It will enable us to deepen partnerships among science and business experts while enhancing UMaine’s contributions to fisheries, aquaculture and other working waterfront-dependent industries of the state.”
Research reveals diverse community benefits of small-scale fisheries
December 22, 2020 — Marine fisheries provide many benefits to coastal communities. Fisheries generate food, provide employment and economic profit through the supply chain, and play an important role in a sense of community and individual identity.
University of Maine researchers Heather Leslie and Kara Pellowe are studying the diverse benefits provided by fisheries in partnership with harvesters and other local experts in multiple regions, including Maine and Mexico.
Pellowe, a former UMaine postdoctoral scholar now at the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, and Leslie, director of the UMaine Darling Marine Center in Walpole, contend that the benefits provided by fisheries are more diverse than is often accounted for in fisheries management.In a recent study published in the scientific journal Ambio, Pellowe and Leslie study the diverse benefits that small-scale fisheries provide to coastal communities. The research indicates that non-fishing families recognize the diverse benefits associated with coastal fisheries. The study specifically investigated how these benefits were recognized in the community of Loreto in the northwest region of Mexico, where both fisheries and tourism play important roles in the local economy, much like the Maine coast.