Author Archives: Anna Farrell

Mayday: Gulf of Maine in Distress

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The Portland Press Herald is running a 6-part series by award-winning author and Press Herald reporter Colin Woodard titled “Mayday: Gulf of Maine in distress”. Woodard touches on the same targets the Frenchman Bay Partners have identified, and much more. To view each part of the series click on the links below.

Part 1: Big changes are occurring in one of the fastest-warming spots on Earth – Yarmouth Bar, Nova Scotia
Canadian government hinders scientists from talking about climate change – St. Andrews, New Brunswick
Part 2: As Gulf of Maine warms, puffins recast as canaries in a coal mine – Eastern Egg Rock
Part 3: Gulf of Maine’s cold-craving marine species forced to retreat to deeper waters – Veazie Dam Site
Part 4: Invasive species exploit a warming Gulf of Maine, sometimes with destructive results – Brunswick
Part 5: Shellfish can’t keep up with shifting ocean chemistry – Walpole
Part 6: Maine isn’t doing enough to protect Gulf from effects of climate change – Augusta

FBP Steering Committee Meets to Discuss Rockweed

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It’s something everyone’s talking about, and Frenchman Bay Partners is no exception. Rockweed, or Ascophyllum nodosum, is a seaweed that grows in the intertidal. According to a rockweed fact sheet published by the Maine Sea Grant, rockweed is a valuable resource. It is harvested for use in food, fertilizer, soil conditioners, animal feed, and other products. Coastal Maine began seeing commercial-scale harvesting in the 1970s; rockweed management has been a discussion ever since. Continue reading →

Ecosystem Services Values Across the Bay

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Ecosystem services are benefits that people derive from the natural world, and the Frenchman Bay Partners has been engaging community members in conversations about the benefits we all derive from our connections to Frenchman Bay. Identifying and prioritizing these attributes can inform management decisions. Participants have also been engaged in helping create a computer-based Ecosystem Services Value (ESValue) decision support tool for Frenchman Bay.
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HCPC Has Grant Funds for Environmental Site Assessments

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The Hancock County Planning Commission (HCPC) has received a $400,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Program.  The grant is intended to spur re-use of sites where there is potential contamination.  HCPC has used the grant funds to hire an environmental consultant to conduct site investigations.
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