易胜博官网

Three 易胜博官网 research projects aim to improve sustainability of the region鈥檚 fishing and aquaculture industries and bring better seafood to the table, thanks to funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program.

With a grant of $297,720, research associate professor of marine biology and aquaculture Extension specialist will lead research to develop a broodstock program for lumpfish, a species native to the Gulf of Maine. Lumpfish are 鈥渃leaner fish;鈥� when integrated into salmon and steelhead trout farms, they delouse the farmed fish. While U.S. salmon farmers would like to use lumpfish, much like north Atlantic salmon farms outside the U.S. do already, neither a domestic lumpfish source nor established permitting exist.

Fairchild and Chambers, along with aquaculture program manager Arron Jones and Heather Hamlin of the University of Maine, will study lumpfish as a broodstock and conduct outreach with stakeholders on using them in aquaculture.

鈥淭his could lead to new business opportunities and increase domestic production of Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout,鈥� says Chambers. 鈥淭he fishing community would have a new, high-value opportunity to supply live, adult, wild lumpfish to broodstock facilities.鈥�

Fairchild also received funding ($296,886) for a second project that will improve the sustainability of the lucrative channeled whelk fishery in the northeast. These large sea snails with their iconic 鈥渉ear the ocean鈥� shells are caught in traps, much like lobsters, with a bait blend that has traditionally included horseshoe crab, an exploited species in jeopardy.

鈥淲e propose to work with the whelk industry to develop more sustainable and environmentally-friendly products: traps that allow the escape of whelks that do not meet the minimum legal size, and an effective bait that utilizes less horseshoe crab and more low-cost, low-impact ingredients such as invasive green crabs,鈥� says Fairchild.

A third project, led by Jason Goldstein 鈥�12G of the in Maine, aims to jump-start an economically viable green crab fishery by better understanding when the invasive crabs are about to molt. 易胜博官网 fisheries Extension specialist and assistant professor of biological sciences are also participating in the research.

Highly invasive, green crabs pose significant concerns to established fisheries as well as ecosystems. Bradt and others have championed an 鈥渆at the invaders鈥� approach by partnering with local chefs, but not knowing when and where green crabs molt (and become soft-shelled) hinders the potential success of a green crab fishery. Furey鈥檚 lab will contribute telemetry expertise to track the seasonal movements of green crabs along the coast.

The three projects are among 30 projects nationwide that received a total of more than $8 million from the .

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