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Hugh Cowperthwaite is the senior program director for fisheries and aquaculture at Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Maine-based Community Development Financial Institution.
As someone who has worked to strengthen and sustain Maine’s fisheries and seafood industries over my whole career, today I am sighing with a huge sense of relief and gratitude, thanks to the leadership of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Maine’s marine industry.
Earlier this week, I became very concerned about the future of Maine’s marine economy. I grew up here, lived here all my life and have made my career of the last 35 years all about helping the people working on the Maine coast adapt to new challenges, much of it in partnership with Maine Sea Grant.
The loss of the Maine Sea Grant program would have deep and long-lasting implications for our state by limiting our ability to adjust to changing economic and environmental conditions. I’ve served on the Maine Sea Grant Policy Advisory Committee for the past seven years. This is a committee, staffed with Mainers, that helps identify community needs and ensures that Sea Grant’s work is relevant to the people of Maine from Kittery to Eastport.
I have seen first-hand how vital this program is, and so I applaud Collins for her quick response to advocate and support renewed federal funding for the Maine Sea Grant program.
What happens in Maine’s waters affects us all. Maybe you love seafood or have a family member who fishes for lobster. Maybe you’ve heard about green crabs threatening Maine’s softshell clam industry. Perhaps you know someone who used to work on a groundfish boat and is now learning to farm-raise oysters. Maybe you miss jumping off the town pier to cool off in the hot summer heat because it was lost in a storm last year.
Groundfish, sea urchins and shrimp all have significantly declined. The coastal storms in recent years have created unprecedented challenges for all users of the waterfront and ocean. What will happen when the lobsters eventually stop crawling into traps and leave our waters for cooler temperatures?
Maine Sea Grant is a forward-looking partner who helps us think of the future, innovate, invest and adapt our work and personal lifestyles to ensure we have thriving coastal communities, and a robust marine economy and ecosystem for today and future generations.
Program highlights include the Aquaculture in Shared Waters training program in partnership with CEI, Maine Aquaculture Association and the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, which has trained more than 550 people in aquaculture fundamentals relevant to Maine. Maine Sea Grant was instrumental in delivering the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program, which consisted of courses in lobster quality and handling, the global lobster supply chain, and business and financial planning for 2,600 Maine lobster fishermen. Most recently, Maine Sea Grant has been convening public coastal infrastructure meetings across the state to help facilitate discussions about storm recovery resources.
Our marine businesses would struggle without Maine Sea Grant’s tireless support. Commercial fishing, aquaculture, recreational boating, public education and our way of life here on the Maine coast would be severely threatened. I fear a day when these activities, which are core to Maine’s heritage and identity, are lost — replaced by coastal real estate we cannot afford to live in, and we’re eating seafood imported from somewhere else.
Continuing federal funding for Maine Sea Grant helps sustain our strong marine economy.