Northeast Region

Connecticut Sea Grant
Sea Grant contributes to the growth and diversity of Connecticut's aquaculture industry

• To aid shellfish culturists in diversifying aquaculture products cultivated in the state, the Connecticut Sea Grant Extension Program initiated, with producers, a cooperative research program to develop new species, practices and applications.
• Sea Grant provided resources and expertise in: business planning and decision-making, field research coordination, commercial implementation and technology transfer.
• The potential economic benefit of alternative species culture is to alleviate harvest pressure on traditional species. 
• The program, unique in Connecticut, provides new skills to producers and offers culturists the ability to earn additional profits with a minimal amount of investment and risk.
• Connecticut Sea Grant also assists growers with the coordination of a regional coral bank, and advocates a coral propagation curriculum in regional Vo-Ag and aquaculture-themed magnet schools.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant
Sea Grant forum explores robots for deepwater oil, gas operations

• MIT Sea Grant recently co-hosted a technology forum to discuss how autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can offer low-cost solutions for deepwater oil and natural gas exploration and production. 
• Currently, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), small subs that are connected to a surface ship with a tether, service deepwater wells (greater than 1,500 meters).
• Tethered ROVs cost roughly $100k per day.
• AUVs, which are not tethered, should be able to monitor and service wells for a fraction of that cost.

• New England coastal communities face unique challenges.
• Woods Hole Sea Grant's Coastal Community Development Program, part of the Massachusetts Coastal Training Program (CTP), is a unique, federal-state partnership.  CTP is a nationwide effort of NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
• A partnership of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, and Woods Hole Sea Grant, CTP provides support, training, and technical information to communities, organizations and agencies so they can better manage the coastal resources so vital to their economies and way of life.

Maine Sea Grant
Sea Grant partners with southern Maine town to obtain EPA smart growth funding

• Southern Maine is experiencing tremendous growth of both year-round and seasonal populations. This growth and associated land development have prompted York County communities to work together to craft a shared vision for a healthy landscape and quality of life.
• Maine Sea Grant has worked with these communities as they plan for their future. Sea Grant has also played a leading role in watershed and water quality studies in the coastal rivers of this area.
• This work has resulted in a successful application from the town of Wells to the EPA Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program.
• The EPA grant will enable Wells to develop a town center plan that protects a nearby trout stream and creates a plan for sustainable economic growth.

New Hampshire Sea Grant
Consortium boosts local fishing economy by $13 million

• New Hampshire Sea Grant staff led commercial fishermen as they competed successfully for $8 million in compensation for their involvement in collaborative research.
• NOAA/NMFS funds the Northeast Consortium, a regional partnership of fishermen, researchers and other stakeholders focused on cooperative research and the development of selective fishing gear technology.
• The Northeast Consortium has funded 160 projects in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, involving over 330 paid and volunteer fishermen and 180 scientists.
• According to a regional economic impact model, the cooperative efforts of the Northeast Consortium have produced $13 million to the local economy, sustaining 140 fishing jobs and 55 jobs in on-shore support industries.

New York Sea Grant
Sea Grant brings scientists together to focus on ecosystem based management approaches

• The New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act became state law in 2006 and has spawned activities aimed at shifting the paradigm of resource management from a single species to an integrated ecosystem focus.
• In response to a request from the Division of Coastal Resources of the NYS Department of State, New York Sea Grant agreed to help the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council by developing a research agenda to advance ecosystem-based management.
• New York Sea Grant is looking for a broad representation of scientists to contribute to this shift in resource management paradigms that promises to influence the state’s resource management decisions.
• To this end, Sea Grant sponsored two workshops in November to consider demonstration projects in two watersheds. The researchers were asked to identify priority research that will contribute to developing and/or improving ecosystem-based management of the local sites.

Rhode Island Sea Grant
Sea Grant Sustainable Fisheries Program inspires new services industry

• Rhode Island Sea Grant helped local fishermen develop a voluntary fishing vessel safety program in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
• The fishermen subsequently started their own fishing vessel safety-training companies.