Coastal & Marine Conservation

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Beal and a team based at the university’s Marine Science Field Station at the Downeast Institute are putting their aquaculture innovation skills to work. The team’s goals are to diversify the U.S. market for shellfish and increase the number of jobs in that market. The researchers are focused on two types of shellfish with the potential to bring more jobs and dollars to the area: blue mussels and Arctic surfclams.

In a significant move to save one of the world’s most-treasured marine animals, Peru has approved strong regulations to protect the giant oceanic manta ray, a species particularly vulnerable to fishing activity.

Phytoplankton are the entry point for mercury in marine food webs, and subsequent mercury accumulation in fish is the primary route of human exposure. Yet despite the fact that phytoplankton form this critical link, their role in marine mercury dynamics is not clear, especially with respect to seasonal and geographic variability. This study is designed to evaluate trends in mercury cycling in highly productive coastal marine environments, with a focus on the seasonal effects of phytoplankton blooms in a range of coastal lagoon systems.

Angie Doerr has accepted a position with the Center for Ocean Solutions as a Research Associate for Coupled Human-Natural Systems. See Angee Doerr's LinkedIn profile

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in food webs, posing a global threat to environmental health. Marine mammals are common sentinel species for studying marine pollution; however, their potential role as vectors of contaminants to local ecosystems has rarely been addressed. By quantifying the concentration and chemical form of mercury in seawater affected by Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) colonization, we demonstrated here that marine mammal behavioral ecology can substantially influence nearshore mercury cycling.

By the mid-2000s, reality was hitting hard: The commercial seafood supply and distribution chain was all but broken. Overfishing had depleted fish stocks and, in turn, marine biodiversity. By and large, fish had become a commodity caught in one place, trucked to a processor in another and then sold to stores and restaurants.

Brenda Zollitsch recently completed her report, Status and Trends Report on State Wetland Programs in the United States, which provides a comprehensive look at how states are approaching each of the four core elements for state wetland programs, including state summary documents, comparative data analysis and maps, descriptive text on status and trends and documentation of potential models.

Jennifer O'Leary has been appointed an Honorary Warden of the Kenya Wildlife Service for her work there.

Countries are loosely interpreting the legal meaning of “rational use” of natural resources to escalate fishing efforts in Antarctic waters and hinder efforts to establish marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean, scientists and legal scholars say.