AP reports on Wahle’s American Lobster Settlement Index update

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

June 6, 2017 Economic Development, UMaine in the News

The Associated Press reported the number of young lobsters is declining in the Gulf of Maine despite years of record-breaking harvests, according to University of Maine marine scientist Rick Wahle. Wahle quantifies the population of baby lobsters in the Gulf at monitoring sites in New England and Canada every year. His American Lobster Settlement Index, released this month, shows monitoring sites from New Brunswick to Cape Cod had some of the lowest levels since the late 1990s or early 2000s, the AP reported. The decline in baby lobsters represent an “early warning” of what might happen to the future of the lobster harvest, which is the source of a major fishery and a focus of the tourism industry in New England, Wahle said. Lobsters take several years to grow to legal harvesting size, so the drop in young lobsters would start to affect lobstermen in future years, he said. “If we were to see a collapse in the lobster catch, it would mean that we’re already seven to eight years into a decline in the population,” Wahle said. ABC News, WABI (Channel 5), The Toronto Star and The Chronicle Herald of Nova Scotia carried the AP report. Mainebiz and The Science Times also reported on the American Lobster Settlement Index update, and the Portland Press Herald published an article on research — including Wahle’s —related to the lobster decline.