USM Hosts Public Forum Concerning Marine Bio-Invaders in
Maine Waters
April 27, 2004
Editor's Note: For more information, contact Karen
Young @ 780-4820 or kyoung@usm.maine.edu
On Wednesday, May 5, the public is invited to an educational
forum hosted by USM's Casco Bay Estuary Project and the Maine
Sea Grant to address Marine invasive species in Maine Waters.
The forum is from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., USM Glickman Family
Library, 7th floor, and is a part of the University of Southern
Maine's Gloria S. Duclos Convocation on Environmental Sustainability.
The forum, Maine's Marine Invasion: The Impact of Non-Native
and Other Invasive Species on Maine's Coastal Ecosystems,
will bring scientists, managers and other marine professionals
together with the public to consider how bio-invaders get
into Maine waters, what species are here already, and ways
to prevent new invasions. Experts will present the results
of an August 2003 survey to identify marine invasive species
in Casco Bay and ports south throughout New England. The forum
will also feature presentations on organisms like the Asian
shore crab and Dead Man's Fingers, as well as case studies
from Maine and Massachusetts on efforts to manage marine invasions.
This forum is intended to be a first step in developing a
statewide strategy for addressing marine invasive species
issues in Maine.
Speakers for the workshop include Robin Hadlock Seeley of
Cornell University; Judith Pederson of MIT Sea Grant College
Program; L. David Smith of Smith College; John Sowles of the
Maine Department of Marine Resources; Robert Whitlatch of
the University of Connecticut, and Jay Baker and Megan Tyrrell
of Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management;. More information
about the forum is available at www.seagrant.umaine.edu
or www.cascobay.usm.maine.edu.
Sponsors of the Maine's Marine Invasion forum include the
Casco Bay Estuary Project, Maine Sea Grant Program, and the
University of Southern Maine Gloria S. Duclos Convocation
on Environmental Sustainability. Partners include the Gulf
of Maine Research Institute, Maine Coastal Program/Maine State
Planning Office, Maine Department of Environmental Protection,
MIT Sea Grant College Program, The Ocean Conservancy, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Wells National Estuarine
Research Reserve, and Cornell University.
The Casco Bay Estuary Project supports cooperative efforts
to protect and restore the health of the Casco Bay ecosystem,
while insuring compatible human uses through effective management
and stewardship. The CBEP is hosted and administered by the
Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University
of Southern Maine and the Marine Law Institute of the University
of Maine School of Law.
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