Vol. 2, No. 4
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Contents
Headline
Features
Gulf Log
Council Currents
Resources
Gulf of Maine Watershed
Back Issues
Fall 1998
Summer 1998
Spring 1998
Winter 1997
Fall 1997
Summer 1997
Spring 1997
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Organizations with a Gulf-wide outlook
Gulf of Maine - As the Gulf of Maine Council prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary, numerous other organizations are also working to address Gulfwide issues relating to a sustainable marine environment, many in partnership with one another. Here is a sampling.
Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership
http://is.dal.ca/aczisc/fundy/bofep
A grassroots partnership of community groups, resource users and managers, scientists, coastal zone planners, First Nation groups, businesses, government agencies, commercial interests, and academic institutions, BOFEP formed in 1997 to promote understanding of the dynamics of the Bay of Fundy marine and coastal ecosystems, and to conserve this northernmost segment of the Gulf of Maine by linking science and community initiatives. BOFEP forms partnerships to promote the ecological integrity, vitality, biodiversity, and productivity of the Bay of Fundy ecosystem in support of coastal communities. The group is developing a "Virtual Institute" a geographically dispersed, adaptable, responsive, and inclusive network linking all partners who share BOFEP's principles.
Contact Graham Daborn via E-mail at fundy@acadiau.ca or phone (902) 542-2201; or Barry Jones via E-mail at barryj@gov.nb.ca or phone (506) 444-5749.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
www.bigelow.org
Founded in 1974, the lab is named for oceanographer Henry Bryant Bigelow who conducted extensive research in the Gulf of Maine in the early part of the century. Located in West Boothbay Harbor, Maine, it is a private, non-profit research institution that receives a major portion of its research funding from the US government. The lab studies and promotes understanding and stewardship of the oceans through research and education. Its research programs focus on topics including lobster ecology and toxic marine organisms that threaten commercial seafood industries. Bigelow develops educational programs for students of all ages.
Contact Annette DeCharon via E-mail at adecharon@bigelow.org or phone (207) 633-9600.
Coastal Network of the Gulf of Maine
Formed in 1993 as a network of water quality monitoring groups in the Gulf of Maine, the Coastal Network has since expanded to become a grassroots cooperative of government and non-government organizations involved in any and all forms of environmental monitoring throughout the Gulf. The network includes groups using community-based science to understand and ensure the health of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. By staging workshops, developing manuals, and working in partnership with universities and numerous other organizations, including the Gulf of Maine Council, the coastal network facilitates the exchange of ideas, information, techniques, and technologies with a focus on community-based science, environmental monitoring, Gulf-wide communications, and capacity-building.
Contact Alison Evans via E-mail at aevans@fox.nstn.ca or phone (902) 426-7774.
Collaboration of Community Foundations for the Gulf of Maine
Formed in 1992, this organization is a collaborative of six community foundations, each serving regions within the Gulf of Maine. In a role beyond and including traditional grant making activities, CCF focuses on environmental and economic sustainability of the ecosystem by working with key constituencies throughout the region including non-profit groups working on fisheries, water quality, marine conservation and sustainable community issues (see Gulf Log story, "Grants available for fisheries projects," page 10). Current projects include the Community Fisheries Project, providing grants and technical assistance to community-based fisheries groups; and an Internet networking project with the Gulf of Maine Aquarium and the Conservation Law Foundation.
Contact Lissa Widoff via E-mail at lwidoff@igc.org or phone (207) 382-6553.
Global Programme of Action Coalition for the Gulf of Maine
Created as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the interest of conservation, protection, and enhancement of the North American environment, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) selected the Gulf of Maine as a candidate site for a pilot project to implement the 1995 Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA). CEC then supported establishment of the GPA Coalition for the Gulf of Maine (GPAC), which is taking action to reduce pollutants and protect and manage habitat in the Gulf of Maine.
Contact Katie Ries, GPAC US Co-chair, via E-mail at kries@ocean.nos.noaa.gov or phone (301) 713-3078, ext. 171; or Joe Arbour, GPAC Canadian Co-chair, via E-mail at joe.arbour@ec.gc.ca or phone (902) 426-1701.
Gulf of Maine Aquarium
octopus.gma.org
Incorporated in 1968, the Portland, Maine-based Gulf of Maine Aquarium teaches people about aquatic environments and facilitates marine research. Aquarium staff have traveled to 150 Maine towns to deliver more than 3,000 programs for 110,000 students. Over the past four years, the aquarium has developed an on-line capacity to deliver classroom-tested learning activities to every classroom with World Wide Web access. Currently, the organization is working with the herring industry to develop the hardware, software, and protocols to use commercial herring vessels as platforms to survey coastal herring spawning stocks.
Contact Penny Robinson via E-mail at penny@octopus.gma.org or phone (207) 772-2321.
Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
www.gulfofmaine.org
The Gulf of Maine Council is an international body brought together in 1989 to foster cross-border cooperation among Canadian and US government, academic, and private groups on implementing sustainable management strategies for the Gulf, which extends from Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy. The Council's five major goals are to protect and restore regionally significant coastal habitats; to restore shellfish habitats; to protect human health and ecosystem integrity from toxic contaminants in marine habitats; to reduce marine debris; and to protect and restore fishery habitats and resources. It has provided funding to groups around the Gulf working toward these goals, and has sponsored forums on topics including natural gas development in the Gulf and threats to endangered right whales.
Contact the Gulf of Maine Secretariat.
Gulf of Maine Institute Without Walls
Project developers are seeking support to form an international learning community to promote long-term sustainable stewardship for the Gulf of Maine. The GMIWW would address the need for innovative, engaging, and effective approaches to educating youth about the Gulf, and the need to create an environmentally literate and coastal zone sensitive population. It would foster a network of electronically-linked innovative educational programs coordinated with local universities, public school districts, and community based environmental organizations, using the Gulf as a common learning and teaching resource.
Contact John Terry via E-mail at jterry@fox.nstn.ca or phone (902) 648-2897.
New England Aquarium
www.neaq.org
Open since 1969, Boston's New England Aquarium is a self-supporting nonprofit organization dedicated to research, education, and conservation. More than 1.25 million visitors including 13,000 members visit the aquarium's more than 70 exhibits annually. Aquarium projects include right whale research, eelgrass meadow restoration, fishing gear impact mitigation, bycatch studies, lobster rearing technique development, marine mammal rescue, and public education on the fisheries crisis. It's Conservation Department conducts forums, develops short-format educational films, and works with stakeholders on fishery and conservation issues.
Contact Patrice Farrey via E-mail at pfarrey@neaq.org or phone (617) 573-0748.
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance Inc.
Formed in 1995 to promote community-based marine resource management, NAMA is working under an innovative model of institutional change to unite those interested in marine resource use, focusing their collective expertise on restoring the Northwest Atlantic marine ecosystem so that it can support diverse uses. The Saco, Maine-based nonprofit organization is working to create partnerships between commercial fishermen, scientists, universities, and the private sector on research and technology issues.
Contact Captain Craig A. Pendleton via E-mail at nama@lamere.net or phone (207) 284-5374. Call toll free 888-320-4530.
Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine
www-nml.dartmouth.edu/rargom/rargom.html
RARGOM, formed in 1991, is a Gulf-wide association of US and Canadian research institutions including public and private universities and colleges, private and government laboratories, state and federal resource management agencies, and not-for-profit educational institutions. The association also has a formal collaborative agreement with the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. RARGOM strives to advocate and facilitate a coherent program of regional scientific research, maintain scientific quality, and provide a communication vehicle among scientists, government agencies, and the public.
Contact Eugenia Braasch via E-mail at braasch@dartmouth.edu or phone (603) 646-3480.
USFWS Gulf of Maine Program
The US Fish & Wildlife Gulf of Maine Program, located in Falmouth, Maine, was established in 1991 as part of the federal agency's Coastal Ecosystems Program. Its constituents include land-use decision makers in other federal, state, and local agencies; national and statewide conservation groups; local land trusts; and landowners. The program works through hundreds of voluntary partnerships to restore and protect nationally important habitat in the Gulf of Maine watershed, and has played a key role in protecting more than 12,000 acres and restoring 1,300 acres in the last five years.
Contact Lois Winter via E-mail at lois_winter@fws.gov or phone (207) 781-8364.
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