Category Archives: News
Winter Harbor Fisheries Oral History
From the Maine Sea Grant Winter Harbor Fisheries Oral History post by Natalie Springuel:
First person stories about Winter Harbor’s fisheries heritage are now part of the Winter Harbor Historical Society’s audio collection! A multimedia story map about these interviews can be viewed at the Winter Harbor Fisheries Oral History Project.
The Winter Harbor Fisheries Oral History Project, conducted in the Fall of 2017, captured the stories, memories, and perspectives of local fishermen and their families, local marine businesses and fellow community members. The focus of the interviews was on the community’s connections to the waters surrounding the Schoodic Peninsula and the larger context of fisheries in Maine. Topics ranged from fishing past and present, getting product to market, changes in the industry and changes in the Winter Harbor region. Fishing is so much more than a job, it is a way of life, and the interviews also explored history, family, boat building, business, and relationships.
The goal of the project was to help the Winter Harbor Historical Society document its fishing and community heritage for future generations. Our hope is that these stories will help future residents, visitors, and decision-makers understand the important role that the sea has played, and will continue to play, in Maine’s coastal communities.
Request for Proposals
In summer 2017, the Frenchman Bay Partners received the Acadia Birding Festival (ABF) Environmental Stewardship Award, which included $1000 in cash. The executive committee would like to make these funds available to a Partner or Partners who need support for a conservation-related project on Frenchman Bay. The project could include water monitoring, clam surveys, and monitoring rockweed, or something unrelated to our Bay Plan, like a coastal clean-up or attendance at a meeting or conference. We need a brief description and budget and expect a final report of how the funds were used at the end of the project period.
If you are not a Frenchman Bay Partner, but would like to be, we welcome you to join in ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for Frenchman Bay!
Application deadline: November 15, 2017 11:59 PM
Questions: jdisney@mdibl.org
Apply here
September 27th, 2017
Rockweed Rodeo
January 18th, 2017 FBRSC
Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee Meeting
Lamoine Town Hall
January 18, 2017
The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Community Environmental Health Laboratory presented watershed information at the monthly Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee meeting at the Lamoine Town Hall. The DMR reported on water quality in Frenchman Bay, focusing on Martin Cove, Lamoine Beach, and the Trenton Seaplane Ramp, which are all listed as pollution areas. The DMR completed a shoreline sanitary survey in 2016, which identified new problem areas and resulted in four new Prohibited areas. The Community Environmental Health Laboratory is working on developing a watershed survey for identifying the pollution source(s) in Martin Cove, an area identified by the Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee as a priority area for its shellfish resource. They brought a proposed timeline, map, and example survey forms to share with the committee.
Conservation Planning Short Course at UMaine Orono
EES 598 (Section 0860) Special Seminar in Ecology and Environmental SciencesDesigning Conservation Projects, 2 credits
The University of Maine, Orono
March 6-10, 2017
9am- 5pm
This course is focused on learning how to scope and design a real-world conservation project. It is based on the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, an approach to project management that is widely used by practitioners in leading conservation organizations (e.g., The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation), major funders (e.g., the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and the Moore Foundation), and key government agencies (e.g., the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Agency for International Development, and various national protected area agencies). See http://cmp-openstandards.org/ for more background. The course will be co-taught by staff from World Wildlife Fund and others, who have trained hundreds of practitioners in organizations and institutions, in collaboration with Aram Calhoun and Mac Hunter in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology. Although the course will focus on natural resource management projects the principles are relevant to many forms of project design and planning.
We currently have 8 students registered and we need 12 to run the class so please sign up if you are interested or recruit if you are already signed up! To reserve a spot in the class, please email Julie Eubanks at julie.eubanks@maine.edu ASAP.
Partners Continue to Explore ESV Tools
ESV Tools, or Ecosystem Services Valuation Tools, help determine the benefits people receive from ecosystems. The Frenchman Bay Partners, in their quest to inform and support policy decisions, have been researching various tools, each possessing different emphases and strengths. Consultant Margaret Snell prepared a summary of 14 tools, highlighting their attributes, strengths, weaknesses, inputs, outputs, and scales. Next steps include determining the scope and needs of specific Frenchman Bay Partners projects and selecting the most appropriate tool.
Rockweed Group Holds Meeting
The Frenchman Bay Partners continue to explore rockweed in Frenchman Bay. A well attended meeting back in April produced a multitude of questions centered on legal issues, rockweed ecology, and rockweed economics. To keep the conversation going, a rockweed group, headed by Hannah Webber, Schoodic Institute, and Chris Petersen, College of the Atlantic, was created. In late July, the group met to discuss the Frenchman Bay Partners Conservation Action Plan, what the concerns about rockweed are, what we know about rockweed in Frenchman Bay already, what we want to know about rockweed in Frenchman Bay, and possible next steps. You can read the minutes here.
Never Smelt So Good
The Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities class at COA is busy churning out educational and engaging blog posts all about their adventures. The latest? “Never Smelt So Good: The 16th Annual Smelt Fry and Fisheries Celebration” regales readers about the delicious smelt fry hosted by the Downeast Salmon Federation in Columbia Falls, Maine.
The 16th Annual Smelt Fry and Fisheries Celebration was quite a success in raising awareness for important fish species like smelt and Atlantic salmon that need river systems, and the event brought together members of the Downeast Maine community, whose support for Maine fish is vital to their continued survival. Community events like the smelt fry are important to bring people from various backgrounds together to work towards a collective vision to keep local fisheries healthy for all, while having a great time! Want to help in the recovery of smelt or Atlantic salmon in Maine? This website has some good ideas and you can visit DSF’s site to find out how to help out with their programs.
COA students from the Fisheries, Fishermen, and Fishing Community class conversing with attendees of the Smelt Fry in Columbia Falls. Photo Credit: C.J. Pellegrini