The talk will be held virtually via Zoom and in-person at 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono.
- Virtual attendance: Complete the registration form for Zoom connection information
Speaker: Damian C. Brady, Professor of Oceanography, Darling Marine Center, UMaine
Global scallop production has rapidly transitioned from a wild-capture fishery to an aquaculture industry over the past several decades. However, aquaculture of the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) in the Gulf of Maine has remained limited by the high labor burden and costs within the United States and Canada, particularly when using traditional lantern net culture. Although we have a robust wild fishery for sea scallops, we still import at least 50% of our scallops. To increase domestic production and secure seed supply in the future, our team has been focused on technology transfer from Asia and Europe as well as developing scallop hatchery protocols. Sea scallops aquaculture has increased 6-fold in the last three years. In this talk, I will discuss the development, challenges, and opportunities of this emerging aquaculture industry in Maine.
Dr. Damian C. Brady is a Professor of Oceanography based at the Darling Marine Center. His research interests, while broad, focus on how models can inform better decision-making in marine ecosystems to reflect the values of the coastal communities that rely on them. The decision-making contexts have included aquaculture, offshore wind, marine carbon dioxide removal, the American lobster fishery, sea-run fish, and coastal water quality. The Gulf of Maine is an important economic driver for the region with important fisheries and aquaculture operations; however, dynamic new ocean industries are emerging, such as recirculating aquaculture systems, floating offshore wind, and marine carbon dioxide removal. Many of these new and emerging technologies purport to address our pressing climate change induced challenges. To determine whether these emerging technologies can address these challenges, our team develops, calibrates, and validates tools, such as techno-economic analyses, marine ecosystem models, remote sensing, and oceanographic buoys, to collect objective, science-based information and importantly, communicate these results to coastal communities.
