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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Penobscot River Restoration, Catherine Schmitt Nov 2016

Penobscot River Restoration, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

BETWEEN THE HEAD of tide above Bangor to where it widens into the bay at Searsport, the Penobscot River shifts from a flowing freshwater waterway banked by cedar and pine to a brackish, wave-lapped marsh with a rocky shoreline. In this estuary, salt concentrations fluctuate as the winds and tides push sea water and sediments back and forth. The estuary and the river that feeds it have taken on a new character recently, and have become an international example of watershed restoration. Despite two centuries of intensive timber harvesting and pulp and paper manufacturing, and the construction of hundreds of …


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Kelp Aquaculture, Sarah Redmond, Sam Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Kelp Aquaculture, Sarah Redmond, Sam Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna

Maine Sea Grant Publications

“Kelp” are large brown marine macroalgae species native to New England and traditionally wild harvested for food. There are three commercially important kelp species in Maine—sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima), winged kelp (Alaria esculenta), and horsetail kelp (Laminaria digitata). Maine is developing techniques for culturing kelp on sea farms as a way for fishermen and farmers to diversify their operations while providing a unique, high quality, nutritious vegetable seafood for new and existing markets. Kelp is grown on submerged horizontal long lines on leased sea farms from September to May, making it a “winter crop” for Maine. The simple farm design, …


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Getting To Know Your Water, Dana Morse, Samuel Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Getting To Know Your Water, Dana Morse, Samuel Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Aquaculture businesses must operate on sound environmental principles, most especially because marine aquaculture occurs in an open system: the ocean. While all farming activities, on land or at sea, have some degree of environmental interaction, farmers should understand these processes, with best management practices to minimize negative impacts. Successful farms must cope effectively with any changes to the marine system, and an organized system of monitoring and recordkeeping will improve your chances of business success, while maintaining a healthy environment. This fact sheet provides a summary of direct and indirect environmental factors that may affect your marine aquaculture business; more …


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: The Business Of Aquaculture, Richard Clime Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: The Business Of Aquaculture, Richard Clime

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Maine has significant potential to benefit from the successful integration of commercial fishing and the seafood business in the form of aquaculture and you have a chance to be involved in the beginning stages of this promising field. Aquaculture can be seen as a way to diversify on-the-water income and can easily complement existing fisheries businesses. There are risks associated with any business, however if managed properly aquaculture can be profitable.


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Site Selection, Dana Morse Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Site Selection, Dana Morse

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Site selection is the process of determining the optimum place for the sea farm. It’s a critical process, and will affect success - or failure. Crops grown on the wrong site may never do well, despite the best efforts of the farmer, and since obtaining a lease is usually a lengthy process, it’s not easy for a farmer to simply start up at a new site. The best approach is to do your homework thoroughly.


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Aquaculture In Maine, Dana Morse, James Crimp, Rebecca Clark Uchenna Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Aquaculture In Maine, Dana Morse, James Crimp, Rebecca Clark Uchenna

Maine Sea Grant Publications

This series of “Aquaculture in Shared Waters” fact sheets is intended to help fishermen or others in Maine’s coastal communities interested in starting a small-scale aquaculture business as we move towards achieving this potential in a way that is best for our people and the environment.


Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Husbandry, Dana Morse, Samuel Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna Jul 2016

Aquaculture In Shared Waters Fact Sheet: Husbandry, Dana Morse, Samuel Belknap, Rebecca Clark Uchenna

Maine Sea Grant Publications

When people think of sea farming, it’s usually the husbandry part that they have in mind: tending the crop, working on the boat, etc. Husbandry is a rewarding part of the aquaculture process, and good husbandry is critical to success. Paired with strong financial management and sales and marketing, husbandry is where the rubber meets the road. Your goal as the farmer is very simple, but difficult to do well: Successful aquaculturists keep their animals and plants at optimum health. Another way to think about this is to keep the crop at minimum stress: low stress equals faster growth, improved …


The Secret Life Of Eels, Catherine Schmitt Mar 2016

The Secret Life Of Eels, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

An overview of the natural history, biology, and population status of the American eel in Maine, research on eels in the Penobscot River, and description of the fishery.


Connecting Rivers For Healthy Ocean Fisheries, Catherine Schmitt Jan 2016

Connecting Rivers For Healthy Ocean Fisheries, Catherine Schmitt

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Across Maine, communities and land owners are reconnecting rivers and streams by improving road crossings, fixing broken culverts, and removing dams and other barriers. There are many reasons for doing this work, including preventing costly repairs associated with flooding and washouts, enhancing water quality, increasing wildlife habitat, and restoring fish populations. Connecting Rivers explores some of the ways that streams connect inland lakes and forests and the sea. This first fact sheet in the series focuses on connections between populations of migratory river fish (alewives and blueback herring) and groundfish (e.g., cod).


Proceedings Of The Us And Canada Scallop Science Summit: St. Andrews, New Brunswick, May 6–8, 2014, Skylar Bayer, Trisha Cheney, Carla Guenther, J. A. Sameoto Jan 2016

Proceedings Of The Us And Canada Scallop Science Summit: St. Andrews, New Brunswick, May 6–8, 2014, Skylar Bayer, Trisha Cheney, Carla Guenther, J. A. Sameoto

Maine Sea Grant Publications

A council of stakeholders ranging from fishermen, to scientists, and fisheries managers from both Canada and the United States convened on May 6, 7, and 8, 2014 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick to review and discuss the most recent scientific information relevant to the sea scallop fisheries and aquaculture efforts in the US and Canada. The US and Canada Scallop Summit aimed to strengthen and broaden the knowledge base in the scallop fisheries, with a focus on the nearshore fisheries in the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy, as well as aquaculture efforts, and develop research priorities that aim …


Rapid Response Plan For Management And Control Of The Chinese Mitten Crab, Northeast United States And Atlantic Canada, A. Eberhardt, J. Pederson, B. Bisson Jan 2016

Rapid Response Plan For Management And Control Of The Chinese Mitten Crab, Northeast United States And Atlantic Canada, A. Eberhardt, J. Pederson, B. Bisson

Maine Sea Grant Publications

The Rapid Response Plan for Management and Control of the Chinese Mitten Crab is intended to guide efforts to mitigate the further introduction and spread of the Chinese mitten crab in the northeastern United States and Canada. Due to the unique challenges of invasive species introductions to marine and coastal ecosystems, the mitten crab and other existing and potential marine invasive species are more difficult and often more costly to manage or control than freshwater aquatic or terrestrial invasive species. These challenges include ecosystem connectivity across vast geographic areas, ocean currents and tidal influence, and shipping- and ballast-related vectors for …