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keepMEcurrent.com: Planners ‘test the waters’ on Scarborough Marsh migration
This article was originally published on keepMEcurrent.com on September 4, 2013. It was written by Duke Harrington. View the original article here. SCARBOROUGH, MAINE – Steve Stracqualursi doesn’t need a government-funded study to tell him things are changing in the waters around Scarborough. “I catch more crabs than fish now. They grab right on to the line,” he said last week at a Town Hall forum held to discuss the impacts of sea level rise. Stracqualursi, one of about 60 residents to attend the session, was referring to the growing numbers of European green crab, which can take over native clam flats. But this summer also has seen an explosion in Asian shore crab, which burrow into sandy areas, killing marsh...
Building a Future for Fishing in Downeast Maine
The communities of coastal Maine depend on fishing, but the industry has been in trouble since stocks of groundfish species like cod, haddock and flounder collapsed over 20 years ago. Prey species like herring and alewives are also in serious decline, Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered and shad and smelt are listed as species of concern. The fishery is far less diverse than it once was and the coastal economy is primarily dependent on the lobster fishery. Manomet has partnered with two Maine nonprofits, the Downeast Salmon Federation and the Penobscot East Resource Center, to form the Downeast Fisheries Partnership, a regional effort to restore productive and diverse fisheries in Downeast Maine. On July 30th, Manomet held an...
In Wake of Hottest Year on Record, Climate Change Workshops Help Sites Adapt
2012 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States. A report released by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in January 2013 announced that the average U.S. temperature for 2012 was 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest average since records started in 1895. For many observers, the record was a clear sign that climate change impacts are taking effect now. For Manomet Senior Program Leader Eric Walberg, the news was another signal that climate change adaptation needs to become a priority for landowners and community leaders. For the past three years, Manomet researchers have been developing site-specific climate change adaptation plans for 11 landowner and landscape scale sites in Maine and Massachusetts through a project funded...