"We are pleased that negotiators in the House and Senate included funding in the final version of the appropriations bill for a number invaluable research programs throughout Maine," Senators Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. "This funding is critical to our coastal communities, industry, and tourism."
The Senators announced funding for the following Maine projects:
• $73.7 million for Coastal Zone Management, a portion of which will help Maine coastal towns enhance maritime-related economies, protect critical resources, maintain public access, protect working waterfronts, manage growth and development, and restore coastal habitats. • $55.5 million for the National Sea Grant Program, which provides funding to universities, including the University of Maine, for fisheries, aquaculture, and coastal development research. • $7.813 million for Right Whale Protection to reduce interactions between humans and Atlantic large whales, especially the Northern Right Whale, and to help rebuild the whale population. Some of these funds will be directly transferred to the State of Maine for conservation efforts. • $4.435 million for the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation. Some of these funds will be directly transferred to the State of Maine to help the continued recovery of wild Atlantic Salmon and to help meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act. • $3.75 million for Cooperative Research and Management Northeast Fisheries to support continuing efforts to rebuild the Northeast multispecies fishery. • $3 million for New England Lobster Fishery Research for cooperative research to combat the spread of lobster shell disease in New England. • $3 million for coastal Nonpoint Pollution grants to help communities address pollution issues and increase economic opportunity through openings of shellfish beds. • $2 million for the Groundline Exchange Program to assist Maine lobstermen in the transition toward "whale safe" lobster gear. Proposed federal whale regulations could cause Maine lobstermen to incur costs associated with gear modifications. This program provides innovative solutions and defraying costs to Maine's lobster industry. • $1 million to the Downeast Institute for an Applied Marine Research Marine Laboratory in Beals. The new center will serve as a marine field station for the University of Maine at Machias and will be the only Maine marine laboratory focused on applied shellfish research. • $750,000 for the Gulf of Maine Council to support specific contaminant and habitat conservation projects through competitive grants in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. • $550,000 for the Town of Brunswick to acquire 171 acres of waterfront property on Maquoit Bay. This land will protect critical waterfowl production sites, buffer significant commercial shellfish resources, and allow for additional public access to Maquoit Bay. • $500,000 to the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission for the Penobscot River Restoration Project. This conservation project is restoring Maine's Atlantic salmon and several other species of native sea-run fish in the Penobscot River. In order to improve fish passage, the project involves the purchase of three dams, the removal of two, and a by-pass of the third. • $500,000 for the University of Maine Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS) which allows for continuous real time observations in the Gulf of Maine through the use of oceanographic buoys, land-based radar stations, and satellite information and modeling. • $250,000 to the University of Maine Abrupt Climate Change Research to identify the likelihood and potential impact of sudden changes in the earth's climate.
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