Maine Sea Grant Program lands $575K federal grant

Courtesy / Coastal Enterprises Inc. Hugh Cowperthwaite, fisheries project director at CEI (right) with Dana Morse, extension associate at Maine Sea Grant College Program, were part of a Maine scallop fisheries delegation visiting Japan in October to learn farming practices that might translate to Maine. CEI plans to buy Japanese machinery to support the effort to expand the scallop fishery in the state. Maine Sea Grant College has been awarded $574,691 to continue its work advancing Maine's ocean-related industries.

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By Staff

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded $574,691 to the Maine Sea Grant College Program for initiatives to advance sustainable use and environmental conservation efforts along Maine’s coast led by the University of Maine.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, announced the award today in a joint news release.

“Thousands of Mainers in our state’s coastal communities rely on fishing, lobstering, and other ocean-related industries for their livelihoods,” Collins and King stated.“The National Sea Grant program has helped these businesses thrive by funding critical research that helps us better understand, utilize, and protect one of our state’s natural resources, and we are heartened by its continued partnership with the University of Maine.”

In past years, funding from NOAA’s Maine Sea Grant Program has funded research benefitting fishermen, lobstermen and ocean-based industries along Maine’s coast. Earlier this year, Senators Collins and King joined a group of their colleagues in a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to provide full funding for the program.

Designated as a Sea Grant College, the University of Maine is one of 33 NOAA Sea Grant programs throughout the coastal and Great Lakes states. The University of Maine chapter of NOAA’s Maine Sea Grant Program focuses on sustainable use and stewardship of marine and coastal resources.

Sea Grant receives funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the NOAA National Sea Grant Office, where they focus on accomplishing their mission through research, outreach, and education.