Northeast Region

Connecticut Sea Grant
Sea Grant to Train World Bank Managers in Fisheries and Aquaculture Management

• Dr. Robert S. Pomeroy, Connecticut Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Specialist, has been invited to be a trainer at the World Bank Agriculture and Rural Development Department Hub Training on Fisheries & Aquaculture, held in Nha Trang, Vietnam on 13-18 January 2008.
• The objective of the training is to equip World Bank task managers and program officers from partner development agencies to make informed judgments in addressing bank lending policies in fisheries and aquaculture projects that will impact impoverished citizens.
• Approximately 35 World Bank staff from around the world will participate in the training.
• Dr. Pomeroy will lead sessions on small-scale fisheries management and governance and intersectoral conflicts, trade-offs and synergies.
• After 13 years of working with fisheries in Vietnam, Pomeroy has an extensive knowledge of the Nha Trang area and local issues.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant
Sea Grant Develops Cost-Efficient, Accurate Sensors for Measuring Wind Speeds

• The destructive power of tropical cyclones was demonstrated by Hurricane Katrina, estimated to have caused over 100 billion dollars in damage and an unknown number of fatalities.
• Sea Grant developed a method for classifying the destructive power of hurricanes and tropical cyclones using safe and inexpensive underwater acoustic sensors.
• Studies suggest that this underwater acoustic approach is as accurate at measuring local wind speed in a hurricane as the more expensive and dangerous specialized aircraft that fly through these storms, and far more accurate than current satellite technology.
• This method could help not only the United States but other nations as well, since flying specialized "hurricane-hunting'' aircraft through the high winds of a hurricane is prohibitively expensive for routine use outside of the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant
Sea Grant Develops Technology to Rapidly Identify Harmful Algal Blooms

• A Sea Grant researcher developed molecular probes that differentiate and enumerate species responsible for harmful algal blooms (HABs).
• The probes facilitate the rapid identification of bloom conditions and the potential threat of toxin accumulation in shellfish stocks.
• The probes have been commercialized by Saigene, Inc., and have been very effective in predicting the extensive red tide conditions experienced off the New England coast.

Maine Sea Grant
Sea Grant Leads "Environment" Sector in Community Visioning for Four Towns

• Working in cooperation with a range of partners representing all elements of community life, a series of workshops were held for residents of Kittery, Eliot, York and South Berwick (KEYS) to help them clarify their vision for the future.
• Action plans for 14 community life areas have been developed, and a Sea Grant Marine Extension Team member led the "Environment" sector.
• A website has been created to share goals, indicators, accomplishments and resources to encourage citizens to understand the relationships between sectors and identify opportunities for participation.
• The Environment sector can be viewed at: www.keysregion.org/keys_ofbd/topics/environment.htm

New Hampshire Sea Grant
Sea Grant and National Marine Fisheries Service Sponsor Haddock Symposium

• Since the new millennium, New England has experienced a rebound in the populations of haddock, with total landings valued at more than $100 million since 2001.
• Researchers and fishermen from both sides of the Atlantic want to ensure that rebounding haddock populations are here to stay.
• New Hampshire and Rhode Island Sea Grant, National Marine Fisheries Service and partners sponsored a two-day symposium titled "Haddock 2007: An International Symposium on Haddock Conservation, Harvesting and Management" in October.
• The goal: to balance healthy haddock populations with suitable harvesting limits. Fishermen from several nations attended the conference.

New York Sea Grant
Sea Grant Helps Keep New York's Drinking Water Safe

• A state-of-the-art laboratory developed by Sea Grant researchers has pioneered the identification and monitoring of cyanobacterial toxins found in numerous fresh water bodies throughout upstate New York.
• The lab has analyzed toxins for numerous agencies including the EPA in its review of cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms in the United States with respect to developing a national standard for these toxins in our recreational and drinking water.
• This project has accelerated the funding for further related water quality research.

Rhode Island Sea Grant
Sea Grant Scientists Collaborate With Industry and Managers to Develop "Eliminator" Trawl

• A team of Sea Grant researchers designed a net that effectively eliminates the bycatch of protected fish species (cod and flounder) caught alongside haddock.
• This fall, the team was awarded the $30,000 grand prize in the World Wildlife Federation's International Smart Gear Competition.
• The researchers worked with fishermen on a net called "The Eliminator," which takes advantage of haddock's tendency to swim up when faced with a net, when other fish swim down.
• The International Smart Gear competition was created to encourage engineers and fishermen to develop technologies that would reduce bycatch, or the unwanted part of a fishing catch.
• The design, which beat out more than 70 contenders from 22 countries, is more than seven years in the making.