Tag Archives: Sea Grant
$5.4 million to further innovative research and outreach in support of the lobster industry and fishing communities
The American lobster fishery and American lobster fishery in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England continue to face uncertainties due to environmental and socio-economic changes. Such challenges underscore the need for continued research and engagement to not only understand the fishery’s current state but also prepare for its future state. Since 2019, Sea Grant’s American Lobster Initiative has addressed critical knowledge gaps about the American lobster and its fishery facing a dynamic and changing environment. The Initiative supports a regional extension program in the Northeast and a national research competition. Fifteen emerging research projects were selected in 2023 and 2024 for $4.6 million in federal funding by the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program. The projects were chosen through a competitive process, including review by subject matter experts, and require at least a 50-percent match in non-federal funds. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:03
Lobster stock levels remain high in Gulf of Maine, but there is cause for concern
The “now” looks solid for local commercial lobster fishery, based on findings reported in the 2020 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment, which reported the stock at “record high abundance levels.” The good news continued,, The news for southern New England, including southern Maine, remained poor, with a depleted fishery and no signs of resurgence. The research was conducted by several organizations, including the Department of Marine Resources, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the University of Maine’s Sea Grant program and Lobster Institute. The assessment, released in October, was based on surveys conducted from 2016 through 2018. However, once the research turns to lobster settlements the future does not look as bright. >click to read< 18:29
Sea Grant awards $2 million to advance understanding of American lobster, support industry
Sea Grant announced new funding today for research aimed at understanding physical and chemical changes affecting American lobster (Homarus americanus) in the Gulf of Maine as well as a regional lobster extension program. Collectively, the research projects and regional extension program comprise the Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative. The seven research projects were chosen through a competitive processes that included review by subject matter experts. The research competition solicited proposals aimed at addressing one or more of the following priorities: >click to read< 10:21
Organizations threaten NOAA with lawsuit over industrial ocean fish farm funding
Friends of the Earth and Center for Food Safety today formally accused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of violating the Endangered Species Act. The groups sent a letter to NOAA notifying them of their intent to sue over NOAA’s Sea Grant program which has funded an industrial ocean fish farm in violation of federal law. In October 2018, Sea Grant awarded a federal grant to a floating factory farm for non-native Steelhead trout off the coast of New Hampshire. According to a limited number of records gathered pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, these funds were provided without fulfillment of Endangered Species Act mandates. >click to read<10:55
NOAA accused over funding for industrial ocean fish farm – >click to read<
Shop the Dock debuts in Warrenton
The first ever “Shop the Dock” tours in Clatsop County highlighted Warrenton’s seafood offerings. Despite the area’s long history of fishing and seafood processing — and even though the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean are right there — how to actually lay hands on freshly caught seafood can be a mystery for many residents without ties to the commercial fishing industry. The tour Friday was intended to show people what’s available and where.,,, Amanda Gladics of Oregon Sea Grant, who coordinated the two morning tours, said afterward that they had a great response from the community. click here to read the story 16:24
Cape officials push for Sea Grant program’s survival
Judith McDowell and Bob Rheault were both drawn to Washington this week for the same reason: They wanted to salvage a threatened federal program that plays a key role in Cape Cod’s marine-dependent industries. McDowell, the director of the Woods Hole Sea Grant program, and Rheault, the executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, were hoping to save the national Sea Grant program from elimination. The Washington Post reported last week that the program’s $73 million budget is part of a proposed 18 percent cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. McDowell said she couldn’t comment on a budget cut she said hadn’t been officially released but was leaked to news organizations. But Rheault, who was making the rounds of congressional offices this week, was highly critical of the proposal to scrap Sea Grant, calling it a “job killer.” His time in D.C. revealed there might be a chance the program, which President Lyndon Johnson created in 1966, could be saved, Rheault said. read the story here 10:41
NOAA and Sea Grant fund $800,000 in research to understand effects of ocean changes on iconic Northeast marine life
NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) and the Northeast Sea Grant Programs joined together to prioritize and fund new research on how ocean acidification is affecting marine life including lobsters, clams, oysters, mussels and sand lance that are so important to the Northeast region. Funding includes $800,000 in federal funds from the two programs with an additional $400,000 non-federal match. NOAA and Sea Grant drew on the work of the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network to set these priorities. The Network is made up of concerned fishermen, scientists, resource managers, and representatives from federal and state agencies who work together to identify critical vulnerabilities in the northeast, including regionally important and economically significant marine resources that are vital to the many livelihoods and the culture of New England. Read the rest here 00:23
Event filled Summit for commercial fishermen set for Tuesday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner
Louisiana’s annual fisheries summit, designed to acquaint commercial fishers and others in the seafood business with new technologies and marketing techniques, is scheduled to open Tuesday morning . Held for the past three years in Houma, the event had its venue changed as a way of encouraging more of the state’s fishermen to attend. The summit will provide fishermen, dock owners, processors and other related businesses “an opportunity to network and obtain information on what’s happening in the commercial fishing and seafood industries.” It is sponsored by Sea Grant, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the LSU AgCenter, as a voluntary education program. Read the rest here 09:06
