Volume 6, No. 1

Promoting Cooperation to Maintain and Enhance
Environmental Quality in the Gulf of Maine

Inventory of monitoring programs

A comprehensive list of marine environmental quality monitoring programs in the Gulf of Maine and their activities is available on the Gulf of Maine Council's Web site. The inventory includes active and ongoing federal, state, local, volunteer and private programs. The entries cover information on the source, transport, fate and effect of contaminants in the marine environment. The document updates a 1989 publication titled: Marine environmental quality monitoring programs in the Gulf of Maine: An Inventory, prepared by the Maine State Planning Office on behalf of the Gulf of Maine Council. You can find the inventory at: http://gulfofmaine.org/library/monitoring_inventory.html.

Fish disease database

A database outlining the distribution of disease associated pathogens in wild and free ranging fish populations in the United States is available through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at http://wildfishsurvey.fws.org. The survey intends to help biologists working on restoration and recovery of threatened and endangered species and strengthen the biological basis of laws and regulations that govern the sale and transport of aquatic species and aquaculture species.

Film explores marine protected areas

The New England Aquarium has just released its latest film in the World of Water series entitled Oceans for the Future: The Making of Marine Protected Areas. The 18-minute film highlights marine reserves in New Zealand and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. To obtain a copy call the New England Aquarium Conservation Department at (617) 973-5288 or e-mail them at wowfilms@neaq.org.

Status of wildlife habitat in Canada

A Wildlife Habitat Canada (WHC) report on the status of wildlife habitat concludes that all of Canada's major habitat areasžarctic, coastal and oceanic, agricultural, forested and urbanžare under stress from human development. WHC is urgently recommending that a national habitat council be formed to respond to wildlife habitat issues. The report is available by clicking on the Habitat Status link on the WHC site at: www.whc.org/.

Aquaculture report online

The proceedings of a workshop: Marine Aquaculture and the Environment: A Meeting for Stakeholders in the Northeast, held in January 2001, are posted at www.es.umb.edu/mae01. The workshop was sponsored by the Policy Center for Marine Biosciences and Technology, University of Massachusetts Boston. The report contains papers presented at the workshop with topics detailing aquaculture's impact on habitats, the interactions of cultured and wild species, the effects of aquaculture on wildlife and the economic and environmental considerations for aquaculture. To purchase a hard-bound copy send a check for US $30 to Florence Wurzel, ECOS/Workshop, University of Mass Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393.

Undersea Landscapes: the Web site

The Undersea Landscapes of the Gulf of Maine is an educational Web site developed by the Gulf of Maine Aquarium that expands on the success of the poster by the same name (see below). The site combines three-dimensional computer models of the Gulf of Maine's many landscapes with stunning underwater photography. It also provides background information on the Gulf of Maine and descriptions of some of its aquatic species and two physical environments (the Bay of Fundy and Cashes Ledge). The segments take visitors on a trip from the mountainous, upper reaches of the Gulf of Maine watershed to the middle of the marine realm 80 miles (128 kilometers) off the New England coast. Go to: www.gma.org/undersea_landscapes/.

Undersea Landscapes: the poster

Undersea Landscapes of the Gulf of Maine is an award-winning map and poster that focuses on the landscapes, geology and biology of the Gulf of Maine. Robert Steneck of the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences and Joseph Kelley of the Maine Geological Survey developed the poster's concept and text. Paul Dest, formerly of the Maine Coastal Program/State Planning Office coordinated the project. An 18" X 24" three-color map of the Gulf of Maine watershed (featured on page 12 of the Gulf of Maine Times) is also available. For copies of the maps, please call Andy Cameron, Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, (902) 424-0406; Mary Power, New Hampshire Coastal Program, (603) 431-9366; Lorraine Lessard, Maine Coastal Program/State Planning Office, (207) 287-1486; or the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management's Information Line, (617) 626-1212.