Blue Economy

Media highlight lobster habitat research from UMaine

The Portland Press Herald, Mainebiz, Maine Public, Earth.com, News Center Maine, Penobscot Bay Pilot, WGME (CBS 13 in Portland) and Seacoastonline highlighted a new study by researchers at the University of Maine that revealed lobsters in the Gulf of Maine are abandoning their traditional rocky habitats for open areas. This significant behavioral shift, potentially driven […]

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‘The Maine Question’ dives into Maine’s blue economy  

The ocean, the plants and animals that reside in it and the coastline it formed are integral to Maine’s economy and culture. While heritage industries like fishing and shipbuilding have persisted for centuries, they and other coastal industries are changing. Climate change and the loss of working waterfront threaten their viability, but new fisheries, products, […]

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American lobster population, habitat preferences shifting, study finds

American lobsters along Maine’s coast have relocated to new habitats, while the population simultaneously shrunk in abundance and grew older, according to a new study by University of Maine researchers. For decades, the vast majority of adult lobsters resided in boulder shelter habitats. This knowledge helped inform longtime conservation efforts and regulations within the more […]

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Transformation of ocean management is underway, study finds

Marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) is a growing practice of ocean stewardship and conservation that offers benefits to the production of healthy, local food and the preservation of clean water, as well as recreation, habitation and storm protection in the Gulf of Maine and beyond.  Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean […]

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UMaine research on rockweed harvesting highlighted by Harpswell Anchor

The Harpswell Anchor highlighted a study led by the University of Maine that captured how entire rockweed beds recover from harvest. Elliot Johnston, a coastal ecologist with the Maine Natural History Observatory in Goldsboro, was interviewed for the story. He was one of the lead researchers in the UMaine study, which looked at 38 sites […]

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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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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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‘The Maine Question’ asks if Maine become a global pioneer in renewable energy and infrastructure

Finding possible solutions to the nation’s ailing infrastructure, affordable housing deficit and renewable energy needs is all in a day’s work for the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC).  At Maine’s largest university-based research facility, faculty, staff and many students are feverishly developing new materials and technologies to help address national and […]

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