Sea Grant announces $2 million in support of 2020 American Lobster Initiative projects

Sea Grant announces $2 million in support of the Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative to address scientific and stakeholder needs associated with this important fishery. 

>> Read the full article from the National Sea Grant Office

>> Connect with MIT Sea Grant’s ALI contact Robert Vincent (rvincent@mit.edu)

>> Visit the American Lobster Initiative website

The funded research will address critical gaps in knowledge about how American lobster is being impacted by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England. The focus of this research is based on specific language in Sea Grant’s fiscal year 2020 appropriations language.

• Research Update: Where do lobsters come from, where do they go, and what happens when there’s a change in the status quo? (Andrew Goode, University of Maine grad student working in Dr. Damian Brady’s lab)
• Research Update: On the Appetites of Baby Lobsters (Alex Ascher, University of Maine grad student working with Dr. Rick Wahle and Dr. David Fields)

The nine extramural research projects being funded in 2020 were chosen through a competitive process that included review by subject matter experts. The research competition solicited proposals aimed at addressing one or more of the following priorities:

1. Increased understanding of life history parameters, including but not limited to, growth, maturity, and species interactions;
2. Larval ecology and early biology;
3. Spatial distribution and migration, including but not limited to, habitat and trophic interactions; and
4. Socio-ecological investigations to inform future management decisions, including but not limited to, research exploring bait alternatives to herring and their implications for the lobster fishery.