Federal government restores $4.5M Maine Sea Grant funding

An orange boat sits next to a yellow house.

File photo / Laurie Schreiber Maine Sea Grant provides services for fishermen, lobstermen, hospitality workers and others.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Two months after the federal government terminated funding for Maine Sea Grant, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified the University of Maine that it was awarding three more years of funding for the program.

Money was made immediately available for the upcoming year, with funding for two additional years contingent on future appropriations by Congress, according to a news release.

$4.5M award

In February, NOAA informed UMaine that it was immediately discontinuing Maine Sea Grant, terminating a four-year, $4.5 million award with three years remaining.

Maine’s Sea Grant program, founded in 1971 and one of 34 nationwide, was the only affected.

At the urging of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who advocated directly to the secretary of Commerce, the department announced in early March that it would renegotiate the award.

The Commerce department also released unspent funds from the first year of the original four-year award.

In the past two months, the organization was able to continue research and extension work by using non-federal matching funds and the released unspent funds, a UMaine spokesperson told Mainebiz.

“Maine Sea Grant provides valuable services for fishermen, lobstermen, hospitality workers and so many others that rely on our coastal economy,” said Collins.

Propelling business

Maine Sea Grant is a direct investment in Maine’s coastal communities.

“Maine Sea Grant has been supporting Ready Seafood since we started as a small lobster company on Hobson’s Pier in Portland in 2004, and helped propel our business to become the largest lobster processing company in the world,” said Curt Brown, a lobsterman and marine biologist for Ready Seafood.

The funding for Maine Sea Grant is not a cost but an investment in coastal industries and communities, Brown added.

Sea Grant has more than 700 established partnerships with businesses, researchers, community organizations and local and county governments.

In 2023, the program created or supported 332 businesses and 565 jobs.

“We are deeply appreciative of Sen. Collins’ leadership and relentless advocacy on behalf of Maine Sea Grant and the hard-working Mainers it has long served,” said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, UMaine’s president. “We look forward to continuing our longstanding partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce and our state’s coastal communities to promote resilient local jobs and opportunities and a globally competitive marine economy through research-informed innovation.”

Economic multiplier

Consistent with the original four-year agreement, the award made by the Commerce Department last week is for $1,499,374, which will be matched by $809,905 from non-federal sources, including industry and State research and development funding, over the next year.

If Congress continues to fund the National Sea Grant Program, the department would provide an additional $3,023,749 to Maine Sea Grant through Jan. 31, 2028, to be matched by $1,646,169.

The federal and matching funds support statewide research and marine extension activities, led by 20 Maine Sea Grant employees on the Orono campus and in coastal communities from Eastport to Wells, as well as student and partner researchers throughout the state.

In 2023, programs and services supported by Maine Sea Grant generated $15 of economic activity in the state for every federal dollar, for a total impact of $23.5 million. Ongoing activities include coastal workforce and business development; hands-on marine science education and outreach; research with governmental and industry partners to inform lobster and other fisheries management; and storm preparedness technical assistance for working waterfronts.