UMaine cited in Ellsworth American article on sea urchin restoration project
The Ellsworth American reported an industry-led effort to determine whether sea urchins can be encouraged to grow in a once fertile habitat will benefit from the Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council’s vote to close part of the Sheepscot River to urchin fishing for nearly three years. The closure extends along the western side of Southport Island near Boothbay Harbor in the area around Cat Ledges. It has been closed to give the DMR an opportunity to study whether a viable fishery can be re-established in an area that once supported a substantial urchin harvest but is now virtually devoid of urchins, according to the article. The project calls for transplanting wild sea urchins into the area and seeding it with juvenile urchins raised at the University of Maine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin, the article states. Commercial harvesters will do the majority of the work on the project with support from the DMR and UMaine scientists.