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News From Member Institutions
Site Reports
DMR - Maine Department of Natural Resources, Augusta
April 2008
Rep: Linda Mercer
New Research Activities:
Funding from the Northeast Consortium was received to conduct a study on fishing practices of divers in
the sea urchin fishery. The purpose of the study is to compare size-selective and non-size-selective
harvesting techniques to determine whether the decline in sea urchin resources may have been partly the
result of destructive fishing practices and to explore possible solutions.
The spring 2008 Maine/New Hampshire Inshore Trawl Survey will complete eight years of surveying marine
resources in the inshore waters (< 60 fm) of the Gulf of Maine north of Massachusetts to the Canadian
border. Funding has been received to continue the survey into 2009.
NOAA funds have been received to conduct the second year of a biological sampling and migration study of
Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of Maine.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are conducting a multi-state collaborative to develop and
implement a conservation program for three anadromous species of concern in the Gulf of Maine (smelt,
Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sturgeon). Initial work is focused on a field inventory of smelt spawning
areas, developing index stations fro water quality monitoring, developing a predictive GIS habitat
model, threat identification, and establishment of a fish health monitoring program.
The third year of the “American Lobster Ventless Trap Survey” will be conducted during May-November 2008
to characterize the relative abundance and size distribution of lobster from Maine through New York,
document the relative importance of depth to abundance and distribution, improve partnerships between
the commercial fishing industry and scientists, and develop a coastwide fishery-dependent monitoring
program.
As a result of federal funding from the 2005 Red Tide disaster, the DMR will expand a sentinel buoy
program to Cobscook Bay this season, based on the successful design of a project in Casco Bay. Bags of
mussels will be suspended in the water column and tested weekly for the presence of biotoxins in order
to determine the presence and extent of harmful algal blooms and minimize the extent of shellfish
closures due to Red Tide. Nutrient and phytoplankton samples will provide information on the dynamics of
a red tide bloom in the near-shore environment, and possibly provide some predictive capabilities of
vulnerable areas.
June 2006
Rep: Linda Mercer
Linda Mercer gave an update on activities at the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The Department conducts a number of research, monitoring and survey projects on species of commercial
interest. Highlighted were the the scallop fishery, which used to be productive but in not doing well,
the sea urchin dive survey, a ventless trap survey for lobsters, and the status of and water quality
monitoring sites for harmful algal blooms. Position vacancies for a Natural Resource Educator and a
Biological Monitoring and Assessment senior scientist were announced.
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