• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

WINTER/SPRING 2008 VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 Seeing nature’s poetry. Story Pages 6-7 Herring: A small fish INSIDE that is a big deal Science Insights: Septic systems are gaining By Kirsten Weir respect with new technology to boost performance .... 3 he bean of coffee, the leaves of tea, the “Tspices of the tropics, the worms that Where make silk, are of smaller influence on the na- eagles fly tions (sic) richness than the herring of the At- Monitoring lantic Ocean.” tagged eagles could reveal why river habitat So wrote the French naturalist Bernard is important ............ 4 Germain de Lacépède more than two cen- turies ago. Times have changed since early Travelogue: American settlers first plucked the small A visitor to the Bay of Fundy silver fish from the waters of the Gulf of yearns to meet whales on Maine. The herring’s importance, however, their own terms ......... 5 hasn’t diminished. “For a small fish,” noted Peter Baker, project manager of the Pew En- Profile: vironment Group’s Herring Alliance, “her- Marnie Reed ring are a really big deal.” Crowell waxes poetic on the COURTESY: ACADIAN SEAPLANTS spring melt, lichens and Harvesting seaweed with rakes leaves a considerable portion of the shoots, which rapidly regen- nature ................6-7 erate the plants. Gulf Voices: A marsh in winter looks deceptively barren, but a host Growing seaweed sustainably of plants and creatures lie By Susan Llewelyn Leach COURTESY: MBL Library in wait for spring’s light and Atlantic herring warmth ................9 HE CLEAR CHILLY WATERS of the Gulf of Maine, as uninviting as they Book Review: might seem to land-huddled humans, are perfect for seaweed. High tides, The Gulf of Maine herring fishery is Atlantic Coast Beaches T coming under scrutiny this year. Last fall, explains the tides, creatures little heavy industry and thousands of miles of craggy coastline make it one of the the Herring Alliance—a coalition of envi- and storms that shape and best spots in the world for seaweeds. So much so that 250 varieties thrive there. ronmental groups and some fishermen—ran change our beaches .....10 a campaign urging New England residents When you add to that the rapidly grow- to voice their concerns about the fishery, Research ing market for seaweed around the world, such as fishing practices, to bolster support Update: you have a small industry bursting to expand for making it a priority fish to protect. As Undersea in a region hungry for jobs. a result, the New England Fisheries Man- vehicles use The catch here is that only a certain agement Council (NEFMC) received some the latest technology to amount of wild, hand-harvested seaweed can 8,000 public comments by email. In No- monitor offshore aquaculture be pulled from the Gulf’s waters without af- vember 2007, the NEFMC voted to reex- pens .................12 fecting the sustainability, or rejuvenation of amine herring regulation, adding the species the crop. And the limits of some of those to its 2008 management priority list. “The In the News: harvests are already approaching, said Shep council made an important decision today Maine’s Kathleen Leyden Erhart, owner of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables to fix the Atlantic herring fishery,” Baker wins an award for helping in Franklin, Maine, and an early pioneer of said in a statement issued immediately after PHOTO: SHEP ERHART maintain coastal and ocean seaweed farming in the Gulf. “We’re reach- the NEFMC vote. Yet not everyone agrees Drying alaria seaweed outdoors on the edge resources ..............2 ing the upper limit of the sustainable harvest the fishery is broken. for at least three of our species.” Meanwhile, of Pigeon Hill Bay, Steuben, Maine. Atlantic herring are small, streamlined The Presumpscot River in demand for their products is growing at 10 to fish reaching up to 10-14 inches (25-35 Maine is recovering after 15 percent a year, he said. spread far beyond proponents of organic centimeters) in length that form enormous decades of neglect .......9 “Sustainable” is a key word in commer- food, however. Growing public awareness of schools in the open waters and offshore Scientists are cial seaweed farming. It is a fundamental ele- the environment, along with the devastating banks of the Gulf of Maine. Herring hold using genetics ment in producing an organic crop, Erhart consequences of overfishing in the North At- a key spot in the middle of the food chain. to identify foreign explained. He claimed his company was the lantic over past decades, has further sensitized They filter plankton from the water and are seaweed in New first in the world to have its seaweed handling the industry. an important food source for large preda- England waters ........ 11 and harvesting procedures certified organic by Until recently, with the exception of a tors such as tuna, whales and sharks. “They the Organic Crop Improvement Association, few experimental cultured seaweed sites, all eat really small things and are eaten by really Calendar ............ 4 or OCIA. Although the definition of organic the seaweed grown in the Gulf’s waters has big things,” Baker said. “They are some of is still up for debate, most agree sustainability been wild and hand-harvested. Commercial the most nutritious foods available for the Outside the Gulf ..... 4 is a key. The importance of sustainability has See Seaweed Page 8 See Herring Page 11 Scientific Literature .. 8 Resources ..........10 A marsh in winter… …and more Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment SWITCH TO P.O. Box 390356 Cambridge, MA THE TIMES 02139 USA ON THE WEB. PRINTED MATTER GO TO: PHOTO: CathERINE COLETTI http://www.gulfofmaine.org/times ... looks deceptively lifeless. Story Page 9 Page 2 Gulf of Maine Times WINTER/SPRING 2008 Editor’s Notes Gulf of Maine Times Volume 12, No. 1 Winter/Spring 2008 Enjoying the spring melt The Gulf of Maine Times welcomes and It’s between seasons, the melt, when values comments and suggestions from the awkward silence encapsulating nature our community of readers. in ice is orchestrated into a crescendo of Email: [email protected] buds overgrowing brown stick plants and lush green shoots carpeting mudflats. Editor Birds return like clockwork every year, and Lori Valigra animals come out of their slumber to seek Assistant Editor food and mates. Catherine Coletti It’s a time of year when warming air and longer daylight lure humans to the Editorial Advisor outdoors as well. Theresa Torrent-Ellis This Winter/Spring issue of the Gulf Maine Coastal Program, of Maine Times celebrates the melt in two Maine State Planning Office stories. Assistant editor Catherine Coletti PHOTO: ANN FLEWELLING takes us to a marsh in winter, and tells us “March Tracks” taken near Deer Isle, Maine. Editorial Board Susan Bone of the impending changes. “During win- Environment Canada ter, most of the perennial plants—the cum-poet and environment conservation- the rockweeds plants that will come back each spring— ist says every season has its charms, but she wave and the silver sheen is alive Anne Donovan use energy and nutrients absorbed by their loves melt. “I like to watch new sprouts with thousands of eiders. It’s galactic, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone rhizomes, or underground plant stems, to come up and the old, dirty snow melt away this black-and-white sprinkle.” Management stay alive under the ice,” she writes. … increasing day(light) is a metaphor for “This spring, increasing light and optimism,” says Crowell. The melt is a time of year that calls Contributors warmth will tell the marsh to wake up... She describes the energy of the melt amateur and expert naturalists alike to Lee Bumsted the melting away may reveal a weathered we’re all about to experience beautifully in observe the rebirth of the world around Karen Finogle Susan Llewelyn Leach face, as ice, tides and waves have chipped “Eider Envy,” her poem about the Eider them—the lichens rimming the bottom of Peter Taylor away at its fragile outer edges.” duck spring congregations that she calls tree trunks in the city and country, the bird Kirsten Weir Another story profiles poet and con- “one of the wonders of the natural world.” song returned after a long winter, buds spi- servationist Marnie Reed Crowell, a resi- raling around tree branches. Whether you Layout dent of Deer Isle, Maine. Nothing tickles “Was it yesterday the frozen cove experience these awakenings on your own Michelle Muise Crowell’s imagination like the spring melt. was locked-down desert? Today or as part of a group outing, enjoy. http://www.popgraphics.net At the first signs of cracking ice, images the shore is ringed with rotting flood her mind and poetry runs through blocky slabs. Lori Valigra The Gulf of Maine Times, a project of the In a languid band of Prussian blue Gulf of Maine Council’s Public Education her fingertips onto paper. The biologist- and Participation Committee, is made possible through support of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Salt marshes in the Gulf of Maine Administration. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not A new 42-page booklet on salt marshes in the Gulf of Maine offers a necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or reader-friendly look at the ecology of these vital coastal wetlands and ways any of its sub-agencies, the Gulf of Maine to bring them back to health. Salt marshes remove pollution from the wa- Council on the Marine Environment, or ter, provide food and shelter for fish and birds, protect the shoreline from other sponsors.

Load more

  12

Copy Link