July 17, 2026 — Fishing is one of the oldest commercial activities in New England, and experts with the University of Maine are working to ensure its future remains sustainable.
For the 14th year in a row, Maine harvested over half-a-billion dollars in seafood, around $619 million in 2025 to be exact according to Damian Brady, a professor at UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences.
“We have about 7% of the coastline of the United States, and we produce 25% of the value in seafood,” said Brady.
July 15, 2026 — The University of Maine is a key partner in a new $15 million U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engine that will strengthen New England’s seafood industry through cutting-edge research, technology innovation and workforce development.
Announced by the U.S. National Science Foundation through its NSF Regional Innovation Engines program, the NSF Seafood Engine in New England is led by the Portsmouth-based nonprofit Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems.
The collaborative initiative brings together leaders from the seafood industry, technology sector, government and research institutions across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to build a more competitive, resilient and technologically advanced seafood economy.
As a partner in the Seafood Engine, UMaine will contribute expertise in marine science, fisheries, aquaculture, engineering, workforce development and technology commercialization.
Working alongside regional partners, UMaine will help develop innovative solutions that strengthen the seafood supply chain, support coastal communities and prepare the next generation of seafood and blue economy professionals in Maine and beyond.
June 16, 2026 — Consumers are willing to pay a premium for lobster harvested with ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks, according to new research from the University of Maine.
The study, led by Qiujie “Angie” Zheng, associate professor of business analytics at UMaine’s Maine Business School, found that consumers would pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll when informed that the lobster was caught using ropeless gear — particularly when messaging emphasized animal welfare.
Zheng was careful to frame the findings in context. “These findings do not suggest that Maine’s lobster industry needs to change its current practices,” she said. “Rather, they provide insight into how consumers might respond if ropeless technology were adopted.”
April 22, 2026 — Along Maine’s coast, a familiar fish is raising new questions for lobstermen.
Researchers at the University of Maine (UMaine) are taking a closer look at whether cunner fish– long known to share habitat with lobsters– may be preying on them in a new way, particularly targeting egg-bearing females. The work is being led by fisheries scientist Michelle Staudinger, backed by a National Geographic Society grant aimed at studying keystone species and emerging ecosystems shifts.
Cunner aren’t new to the Gulf of Maine. The small, colorful fish have always fed on young lobsters in their early benthic stages, along with clams and snails. But recently, fishermen and the Maine Department of Marine Resources have reported cunner showing up in traps, and in some cases with lobster eggs in their mouths, raising concerns about potential impacts to the fishery.
April 6, 2026 — Curt Brown spent his childhood harvesting lobsters along the coast of Maine. As an adult, he went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Maine, observing the very waters where he spent years fishing for the crustaceans.
With a rapidly changing climate, many researchers worry that Maine’s lobsters will eventually move north to colder waters. Brown isn’t so sure, though, seeing all of the forces affecting the ecosystem as highly complex. His studies in marine biology and policy, along with his continued work as a lobsterman, have helped him understand that the lobster industry depends upon various factors, some beyond man’s control.
Last year, the state of Maine’s lobster fisheries harvested 78.8 million pounds of lobsters, and according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), commercial harvesters earned $619 million.
Synonymous with the New England state, lobsters have a documented history in Maine that dates back to 1605. Recent studies, though, show that climate change and a shift in currents are warming up the local waters. In a now well-quoted 2015 study led by Andrew Pershing, researchers found that the surface temperature of the Gulf of Maine is warming 99 percent faster than the rest of the ocean.
March 27, 2026 — Researchers at the University of Maine have developed a tool using satellite data to predict which farming sites may result in the fastest growth rates for eastern oysters to reach market size.
In a study published in January, researchers combined data from Landsat 8 and 9 – a joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and U.S. Geological Survey mission that records sea surface temperature – with European Sentinel-2 satellite estimates of oyster food availability made through chlorophyll-a and particulate organic matter (POM) measurements to model growth and predict the time required for eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) to reach market size in Maine’s nearshore waters.
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.
January 21, 2026 — The Maine Sea Grant Program at the University of Maine has received $2 million in funding.
$1.4 million of the funding comes from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), awarded to support research and outreach activities of the NOAA Sea Grant-funded American Lobster Initiative. Another $600,000 has been provided in second-year support for four 2025-26 American lobster research awards.
With this new four-year NOAA award, Maine Sea Grant and its regional partners will support collaborative research to address complex challenges facing the American lobster fishery, according to UMaine News, in a news release. The initiative will also synthesize research findings so they are accessible and actionable for fishermen, policymakers and the public, and support place-based technical assistance within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and Southern New England region.
The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is among the nation’s most valuable fisheries, with approximately 113 million pounds landed in 2024, valued at $715 million. The industry supports thousands of Maine families across the fishing and seafood supply chain and faces growing uncertainty driven by environmental and market change.
“This underscores the need for collaborative research to understand how lobsters are responding to changing conditions and how best to sustain the fishery,” said UMaine, in the release.
January 20, 2026 — The Maine Sea Grant Program at the University of Maine is pleased to announce its receipt of $1.4 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), awarded to support research and outreach activities of the NOAA Sea Grant-funded American Lobster Initiative.
With this new four-year award, Maine Sea Grant and its regional partners will support collaborative research to address complex challenges facing the American lobster fishery. The initiative will also synthesize research findings so they are accessible and actionable for fishermen, policymakers and the public, and support place-based technical assistance within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and Southern New England region.
The full $2 million in NOAA funding also includes $600,000 in second-year support for four 2025-26 American lobster research awards.
The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is among the nation’s most valuable fisheries, with approximately 113 million pounds landed in 2024, valued at $715 million. The industry supports thousands of Maine families across the fishing and seafood supply chain and faces growing uncertainty driven by environmental and market change. This underscores the need for collaborative research to understand how lobsters are responding to changing conditions and how best to sustain the fishery.
Since 2019, Sea Grant’s NOAA-funded American Lobster Initiative (ALI) has worked to close critical knowledge gaps about this iconic species, strengthening the fishery’s resilience to biological, economic and social impacts of ecosystem change. The program has funded 40 projects to date and supports a national research competition alongside a regionally coordinated extension network to ensure that communities across the region benefit from these investments.
“This new federal investment in lobster research is terrific news for Maine’s fishermen, marine researchers, and coastal communities, and it underscores why I advocated so strongly for the restoration of Maine Sea Grant’s funding last year. The research efforts led by Maine Sea Grant help inform policy makers and support our working waterfronts, strengthening Maine’s blue economy and helping to ensure that our state’s fisheries remain sustainable and competitive for generations to come,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
With the new $1.4 million award, Maine Sea Grant will begin to administer the initiative’s competitive research competition, which was previously administered by the NOAA National Sea Grant Program.
October 6, 2025 — In Milbridge, a former farmer is grinding invasive green crabs into fertilizer. In South Portland, a Cambodian food incubator is incorporating them into seafood dishes.
The first time Sam Cheeney saw a green crab was in the early 2000s, as part of an ecology class at the University of Maine at Machias.
He and his classmates ventured out across the mud flats and rocky shoreline in search of the invasive species, one that research suggests has been present on Maine’s coast since the mid-1800s, when it was carried to North America in the ballast waters of a European ship. Today, green crabs prey on soft-shell clams and mussels and have been found to harm salt marshes.
“We would find pockets of just hundreds of them,” Cheeney said. The experience made an impression. In 2023, after stints as a farmer and carpenter, and more than two decades after his first glimpse of the green crab, Cheeney founded Green Kraken, a small business based in Milbridge that makes fertilizer from crushed green crabs. The nutrients in the green crab act as a stimulant for vegetables and other crops.