Category Archives: News

Good news for mudflats: 610 Project receives funding, makes progress

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The 610 Project (pronounced six-ten) is a collaboration between the Partners, the Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee and the Hancock County Planning Commission to build capacity towards the goal of opening closed clam flats in Frenchman Bay. This project received its initial funding from the Maine Community Foundation’s Community Building Grant Program. Through a conservation action planning process, the Partners and shellfish committee have identified the five-year goal of opening all 610 acres of clam flats in Frenchman Bay in which harvesting is restricted due to unknown bacterial pollution sources. They will accomplish this by building capacity within the shellfish committee for watershed surveys and organizational development.

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Report: “Working Waterfronts and Mudflat Habitat: Addressing Marine Based Livelihoods in Frenchman Bay”

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During her time as Americorps volunteer, Emma Fox produced a case study on the interaction between user groups, intertidal mudflat resources, and how their interaction impacts the economy in Frenchman Bay. She analyzed landings data of soft shell clams and blue mussels for 2008-2011, interviewed a diverse cross section of stakeholders, and reviewed literature on clam flat management, ecosystem valuation, social capital and ecological economics to provide a preliminary attempt at a market-based ecosystem valuation, an evaluation of potential losses in harvester sales incurred from pollution closures in Frenchman Bay, and recommendations about economic data gathering for each of the other conservation targets of the Frenchman Bay Partners. Download the report here. [PDF]

MDI Biological Laboratory needs help mapping eelgrass in Maine

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Eelgrass in Maine is now closed to new submissions. To share what you’re seeing in the natural world, you can now create an account at CEHL’s new collaborative nature journal, Anecdata!

Mapping-ButtonScientists, interns, and volunteers at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) have been successfully restoring eelgrass in Frenchman Bay with community partners for six years. But this year, the marine plant didn’t come up, and not just in restored areas. Eelgrass throughout the upper bay didn’t seem to get its annual signal to send up shoots, and only rhizomes remain in the mud where eelgrass beds had been.

In order to find out the extent of this event along the coast of Maine, MDIBL is asking the public to look for eelgrass beds and report their locations, or where they missing from places where there had been beds in the past. The lab is asking people to search for the plant as soon as possible, because eelgrass’s growing season usually ends in August. Continue reading →

Frenchman Bay Partners present at Zone B Lobster Council Meeting

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Back in February at the Harbor Committee meeting in Bar Harbor, lobster fisherman Jon Carter invited the Frenchman Bay Partners to present at the next Zone B Lobster Council Meeting. On April 8th, Emma Fox (AmeriCorps Environmental Educator with MDI Bio Lab) presented to the Zone B Lobster Council on behalf of the Frenchman Bay Partners. Jane Disney, president of the Frenchman Bay Partners, answered questions following the presentation.

Jon Carter agreed to be the temporary liaison to the Partners for the Zone B Council. You can find the minutes from the meeting here.

DMR Biotoxin Management Program Meeting – April 8, 2013

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The Frenchman Bay Partners sent a statement to Kohl Kanwit at the Department of Marine Resources regarding proposed changes to the DMR Biotoxin Management Program in advance of the public meeting about said changes held at the Ellsworth City Hall on April 8th, 2013.

Many Frenchman Bay Partners attended the April 8th meeting, which was brief and informative. Most questions were regarding the switch to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) testing from the mouse assay method. The meeting summary can be found here.

First Annual Meeting – February 2, 2013

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The First Annual Meeting took place on Saturday February 2nd at the MDI Biological Laboratory. The Partners updated each other on the progress of their conservation and planning projects and spoke about the path toward change thus far. In 2011, the group began working to create an adaptive management plan for the bay, and has identified mudflats, eelgrass, subtidal benthic habitats, and migratory fish (such as alewives and American eels) their areas of particular concern. The 26 partners in attendance unanimously voted in their first Executive Committee.

  • Jane Disney, of MDIBL:  President
  • Chris Petersen, of College of the Atlantic:  Vice President
  • Bridie McGreavy, Ph.D. candidate at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine: Secretary
  • Bob DeForrest, of Maine Coast Heritage Trust:  Executive Officer at Large
  • Fiona de Koning, of Acadia Aqua Farms:  Executive Officer at Large

After Executive Committee elections, the partners shared a potluck meal and spoke about next steps. Jane Disney, newly elected president of the Frenchman Bay Partners, led the discussion about creating subcommittee working groups for each of the ecological targets in the adaptive management plan, as well as a separate communications subcommittee.

Frenchman Bay Mussel Harvesters and MDI Bio Lab Agree on Eelgrass Restoration Plans

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The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) hosted a meeting and dinner for mussel harvesters from the Maine Mussel Harvester Association on January 31, 2013 at Gordon’s Wharf in Sullivan, ME. The gathering had a dual purpose: to appreciate the mussel harvesters for their collaboration on eelgrass restoration projects in the past, and to garner their input on proposed eelgrass restoration areas for the future. The mussel harvesters who attended either drag for “wild mussels” or they harvest “seed mussels” for aquaculture lease sites in Frenchman Bay. “The group here represents one hundred percent of bottom-dredge mussel processors in Maine,” said Ralph Smith, of Moosabec Mussels, “you’ve got Eastern Maine Mussels, Acadia Aqua Farms, Moosabec Mussels, and Atlantic Shellfish.”

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