University of Hawai’i professor to talk about herring at DMC

Alison Rieser, an environmental lawyer and University of Hawai’i at Manoa professor, will deliver a talk titled “The Herring’s Empire” on Friday, June 30 at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole.

The Friday Science Seminar at 10:30 a.m. in Brooke Hall is free, but online registration is requested.

Taxed by churches to feed worshippers and monarchs to build navies, the fluctuating seasons of herring sparked wars and inspired voyages of conquest, and were the basis for principles of fisheries science and international law.

Artists and poets lauded the red herring and the silver darling, and for centuries women gutted and packed the fish. Rieser’s talk celebrates the power of the beautifully colored fish to inspire the arts, science, law and politics, as well as to nourish and sustain cultures and adapt to a changing climate.

Rieser is a professor of maritime geography and environment at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and professor emerita at the University of Maine Law School. Rieser was the founding director of the Marine Law Institute and taught marine resources law. She has broad experience as a marine policy adviser to governments and nongovernmental organizations.

Her talk is part of DMC’s summer seminar series, in which renowned marine science researchers engage the public in topics ranging from the studies of the Gulf of Maine to the exploration of the deep sea. The complete list of speakers is online. For more information, or to request a disability accommodation, call 563.3146.