Blue Economy

A photo of food made using squid wings

UMaine-led research team making new frozen foods from squid fins

Squid has become a staple menu item and ingredient in many seafood restaurants, whether it’s fried, baked, grilled or served raw. In North American markets, however, only about half of each squid is used for culinary applications. To reduce food waste and open new markets, a University of Maine-led team of researchers and students will […]

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A photo of kids around a tank

UMaine Extension receives $750,000 to boost aquaculture learning tools 

University of Maine Cooperative Extension has received a $750,000 grant to support the development and implementation of virtual reality and other innovative learning tools focused on aquaculture technology.  The grant, part of an $8.2 million funding effort by the National Institutes of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to boost non-formal education, aims to increase awareness and […]

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A photo of Lauren Ross steering a boat on the Maine ocean

Ross embarks on Fulbright to expand estuary research beyond U.S. borders

Lauren Ross’s research on the physics of estuaries has brought her all over the world, from France to Frenchman Bay along Mount Desert Island. With her recently-awarded Fulbright, Ross will lead a team of scientists to Chile to look at these transition points between freshwater rivers and the salty sea in a place where so […]

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A photo of soil and crushed lobster shells

UMaine researchers testing lobster shells to thwart potato soil pathogens

Scientists at the University of Maine are evaluating if lobster shells can cultivate beneficial microbial communities that ward off soilborne potato pathogens. The novel shell-to-spud combination may connect two cornerstones of Maine’s food system and enhance the state’s circular economy.  Potatoes are Maine’s top agricultural commodity with a value of more than $215 million in […]

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Lauren Ross sits in her lab in front of research equipment

Ross earns NSF CAREER award to study fresh, saltwater mixing in estuaries

The way fresh and seawater mix in an estuary influences its water circulation, physics and quality, which affect ecosystems and aquaculture. Scientists understand the dynamics of the process in estuaries with simple topographies, but Lauren Ross seeks to better understand them in more complex ones, like the Penobscot River Estuary in eastern Maine.  The National […]

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Dog biscuits made with invasive green crabs pass the taste — and sniff — test

Angela Myracle’s research is going to the dogs. Or, more accurately, for the dogs. As a scientist with Maine EPSCoR’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET), Myracle looks for innovations in aquaculture. And when the assistant professor of human nutrition at the University of Maine spied dog treats at a local supermarket that were made with […]

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