DMR hearing in Bucksport

A fisherman from Bucksport expresses his concern about the lack of data on mercury levels in crabs. 

On Monday night (March 17, 2014), I attended the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) hearing held in Bucksport regarding the two-year closure to lobster and crab harvesting. The closure is located at the mouth of the Penobscot River and extends approximately 7 square miles. The hearing was an opportunity for the public to voice concerns about or support for the implementation of the closure. 

DMR officials summarized the data they had reviewed and their process for making this decision. DMR believes that an area closure is the appropriate measure to protect the public from the levels of mercury recorded in lobster samples collected at the mouth of the river. Sampling in other areas of Penobscot Bay revealed that high mercury levels seemed contained to a small area, and the closure is estimated to affect approximately 10 lobster and crab harvesters. DMR acknowledged that those harvesters will have to shift some of their gear outside of the closed area and hopes that other fishermen will understand and accommodate the shift. 

Harvesters raised concerns about how lobsters and crabs take up methylmercury. It’s commonly believed that lobsters take up methylmercury from the sediment and from what they eat (more info on bioaccumulation here), but there is a lack of understanding on how quickly lobsters take it up directly from water.... so the question remains: will harvested lobsters stored in the closed area waters take up mercury from the surrounding water while they are waiting to be sold?

Going forward, the DMR will work with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. These agencies plan to undertake additional data collection year round over the next two years. To ensure their ability to compare data sets, the state agencies will follow the same protocol used to collect data for the independent study carried out in 2006 - 2013. 

The mercury is believed to have come from HoltraChem plant in Orrington which is now closed, but operated from 1967-1982. A 2002 court ruling initiated the study on mercury levels in the area. For more background on the issue, please see the following articles from: The Working Waterfront  and the PenBay Pilot. 

Fishermen's Forum Recap

Principal Todd West explains the Eastern Maine Skippers Program during the Fishermen's Forum

The Fishermen’s Forum, held annually in late February/ early March at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine is always one of my favorite times of year. OK, I know, that may sound a bit odd, but just hear me out… The event brings together fishermen, academics, graduate students, nonprofit organizations, and fisheries managers from around the state and New England.  The seminars cover a wide range of topics from annual meetings of various harvester groups like the Maine Lobsterman’s Association to updates on scallop and lobster management at the state level, through the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), to high school students presenting about their own research-- there’s something for everyone! The event is always well attended with bustling exhibit halls and packed seminar rooms. Not to mention it's a great distraction from the long winter we've been having this year! 

The Hurricane Island crew was well represented and spent most of the two days talking with people interested in learning more about our organization and the summer programs on the island. 

One of my favorite presentations was from the Eastern Maine Skippers Program, which organized a seminar updating the community on students' progress made to date and sharing the different flounder traps designed by each school. The audience had the opportunity to provide feedback on which flounder trap they believed would be the most effective. In the spring, the schools will test how well the traps catch flounder, and work to combine their ideas, improve their design, and make a recommendation to the DMR.

I also had the opportunity to present as part of a panel on state scallop management and closed areas. The session was called “Thinking Outside the Box:  Spatial Closures in the Scallop Fishery.” I summarized methods used in a collaborative research project we are doing in partnership with a number of organizations and Midcoast scallop industry members. Look for a blog post on that coming soon... 

Visualizing Global Weather Conditions

There is an incredible new visual data resource, earth, developed by Cameron Beccario, that compiles and updates wind and ocean data from a variety of sources including NOAA, the US National Weather Service, and OSCAR, to create beautiful animated data displays on the globe! Take some time to play with all of the modes, overlay options, and global projections to see some unique views of Earth. Check out some of the screen shots I took below (each one clicks through to their respective animation). The surface currents animation reminds me of van Gogh's Starry Night. What do you think?

This is a Waterman Butterfly projection of Earth, looking at the wind direction and speed at the 250 hPa pressure level, which is about the height of the Polar Jet Stream.

This image shows surface ocean currents on an Orthographic projection of Earth.

This is a Stereographic projection of the wind at the surface and the mean sea level pressure.

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The Art of Scientific Illustration

Northern Black Racer Lifecycle, Zoe Keller

I wanted to share a few thoughts about the importance and relevance of scientific illustrations in effectively investigating and communicating science. During the programs we run on Hurricane Island for students, we often dedicate time to nature journaling and drawing from observations of newly collected samples or specimens.

Why bother drawing when you can just snap a photograph? For one thing, drawing forces you to look more carefully at every detail of your subject as you depict it on the page. Illustrations can also simultaneously show several different stages of development, multiple angles, and highlight specific characteristics of the subject while still keeping it in the context of its environment. Most importantly, drawing allows you to omit distracting information to help focus the viewer on the details that are key to identifying an organism, or are important to that subject's life history. Zoe Keller has a beautiful example of this in her illustration of the lifecycle of Maine's Northern Black Racer snake Coluber constrictor (you can see more of her illustrations in her blog, Compass and Wheel). In one compelling image, Zoe is able to convey important information about how the pattern of Coluber constrictor is different from juvenile to adult snakes, what this snake's eggs look like, the structural anatomy of this snake's ribs and vertebra, and how snakes shed their skin.

If you think you can't draw, never fear! You don't need to be an expert artist to take down valuable visual information that can inform you back in the lab more reliably than photography. Even if you start with simple gestural drawings that note an organism's movement, or sketches that inform coloration, patterning, and shape, this can supplement your field notes and help you remember more about what you observed.

If you are interested in reading more about how to make good observations, the importance of illustration, or want to see some great examples from different naturalists field notebooks, I recommend Field Notes on Science & Nature, edited by Michael R. Canfield.

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Maine Might Make Moves on Ocean Acidification!

On Monday January 13, 2014, the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee gathered testimony about a Legislative Document that would establish a formal commission to study the effects of ocean acidification and its potential effects on commercial shellfish harvested and grown along the Maine coast. You can read L.D. 1602 here. This hearing was well attended by stakeholders from all of Maine's major fisheries, scientists, environmentalists, and others.

If this measure is signed by Gov. Paul LePage, the commission would start by identifying the current gaps in knowledge about ocean acidification and make recommendations about how Maine can combat the negative effects of acidification on tourism, fisheries, and the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.

Check out this article in the Portland Press Herald for more information. The bill was considered on January 13, 2014 by a committee of Maine Legislators. Thanks to Rep. Michael Devin from Newcastle for introducing the measure--this could be an exciting step in the right direction for the health of the ocean!

If you want to get involved in supporting this effort, you can sign a petition here.

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