Lobster industry is very important for Maine's coastal community economy. (Photo: Anderson)

Maine allocates USD 340,000 to support lobster fishery research

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has awarded six grants totalling USD 340,000 for research programs that will contribute to improved understanding of lobster fishery management.

The awards are channelled from the Lobster Research, Education, and Development (RED) Fund, which receives money from the sale of lobster license plates and is administered by the Department of Marine Resources.

The projects were solicited through a request for proposals which sought research initiatives that take a collaborative approach toward improved science for the lobster fishery.

DMR pointed out that project leads will meet on a quarterly basis in facilitated sessions to share updates on their research and to discuss ways the different projects can be coordinated.

"Maine's lobster industry is our most valuable and is a critical piece of the economy of nearly every community along the coast," said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. "We know that change is happening in the Gulf of Maine and we want to be positioned with improved science to adapt to those changes."

Of the six awards, five were for proposals submitted by University of Maine (UMaine) researchers, including three by UMaine Marine Science Professor Yong Chen, Ph.D.

Professor Chen has been awarded USD 75,000 over two years to develop scientific models that will project climate-driven changes in lobster distribution and habitat, and improve the ability of regulators to assess and manage lobster.

He has received an additional USD 40,000 to evaluate the ability of current DMR monitoring programs including the ventless trap survey and the settlement survey to capture distribution shifts of lobster in the Gulf of Maine over time.

Professor Chen will also have USD 75,000 to use computer simulations to evaluate and quantify the impacts of conservation measures used in the management of Maine lobster such as size limits and v-notching. This study will also include an analysis of how changing ocean temperatures impact the effectiveness of these conservation measures.

UMaine Marine Science Professor Robert Steneck, Ph.D. has received USD 10,000 to evaluate the relationship between lobster populations and habitat along the Maine coast by assessing lobster larvae settlement, kelp forests, and the near shore density of legal size and sublegal size lobsters.

UMaine Professor Richard Wahle, Ph.D. has been awarded USD 40,000 to evaluate the relationship between lobster larvae and zooplankton over time throughout the Gulf of Maine.

Kathy Mills, Ph.D., Research Scientist, and Andrew Pershing, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) have been awarded USD 80,000 to develop a suite of indicators that show how lobster habitat and the Gulf of Maine ecosystem are changing spatially and over time, and to evaluate how those indicators may affect lobster populations.

Nick Record, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Jeff Runge, Ph. D., UMaine Professor of Oceanography and Research Scientist with GMRI, Eric Annis, Ph.D., Biology Professor with Hood College, and Damian Brady, Ph.D., UMaine Assistant Research Science Professor, will each receive USD 5,000 to contribute additional expertise and data from their own research on a range of related issues.

"Each of these projects represents a significant contribution to the body of science that will inform the assessment and management of Maine's most valuable fishery," said Carl Wilson, Director of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Science Bureau.

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