Frenchman Bay Partners 2nd Annual Meeting

On February 1, 2014, the Frenchman Bay Partners Second Annual Meeting took place at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) Maren Auditorium. Over 50 individuals, many representing partners and organizations, attended. In the morning, three presenters discussed the state of Frenchman Bay. Dr. Joseph Kelley, from the University of Maine, presented on ancient sea-level rise in Frenchman Bay 12,500 years ago. Dr. Charles Wray, from MDIBL, talked about the 200 year historical ecology of the bay. And Eddie Monat, aka Diver Ed, spoke about his underwater observations in Frenchman Bay over the past thirty years. A panel discussion of the state of Frenchman Bay’s bottom habitats and related fisheries followed, with Dr. Wray and Dr. Kelley sitting on the panel. Questions about collecting and archiving data, developing baseline data, citizen science, and green crabs dominated the conversation.

After a potluck lunch and opportunities for networking, participants attended breakout sessions. Options included: meeting conservation target subcommittee members, Market Based Approaches to Conservation with Brian Reilly, and exploration of the FBP website. The day ended with identifying next steps for the Frenchman Bay Partners: getting the Benthic Habitats subcommittee up and running, paying attention to rockweed harvesting, and utilizing the Frenchman Bay Partners website as a tool for everyone.

You can find minutes from these meetings and more news from the Frenchman Bay Partners here.

Market Based Approaches breakout session with Brian Reilly.

Volunteers Wanted

Flanders Stream Project

Individuals are needed to assist in counting the number of alewives at Flanders Stream.
If you're interested in helping this year, fill out this Doodle Poll ASAP.
Contact Claire Enterline at Claire.Enterline@maine.gov with questions.

Eelgrass Restoration

There are lots of opportunities to help out with the 2014 eelgrass restoration: harvesting eelgrass, constructing grids, transplanting eelgrass, crab studies, and more.
Contact Anna Farrell at afarrell@mdibl.org for more information.

Check out more volunteer opportunities on the website.

610 Project Update

The 610 Project, coordinated by Bridie McGreavy, is a collaboration between the Frenchman Bay Partners, the Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), and the Hancock County Planning Commission to build capacity towards the goal of opening closed clam flats in Frenchman Bay. A grant awarded by the Maine Community Foundation in May, 2013, has lead to substantial progress.

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Green Crabs in Frenchman Bay: The Continuing Saga

Everyone has been hearing a lot about green crabs and their destructive nature these days. Frenchman Bay definitely has its share of them. Green crabs are an invasive species from Europe that were unintentionally introduced to the Eastern shores of America in the 1800s. Their numbers have been increasing ever since.

Maine Sea Grant sponsored a Green Crab Summit at University of Maine in December 2013. Many Frenchman Bay Partners were in attendance. The presentations provided a lot of detail about green crabs, their life history, and their impacts on shellfish populations and as well as salt marshes and seagrass beds. They can be viewed athttp://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/green-crab-summit. Several Frenchman Bay Partners, including representatives of the Bar Harbor Shellfish Committee, MDI Bio Lab, and Frenchman Bay Regional Shellfish Committee participated in a one-day, state-wide survey of green crabs last summer, focusing their sampling efforts in Bar Harbor, Lamoine, Trenton, Sorrento and Sullivan. The results of the survey can be found on the Maine DMR website . The report concludes that green crabs are present throughout the state and in numbers that represent a detrimental impact to bivalve shellfish.

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Green crabs caught during the state crab census last August.

Anecdata: Collecting observations of a changing world

MDIBL’s Community Environmental Health Lab (CEHL) rolled out its new crowdsourced mapping tool and nature journal, Anecdata, at the Acadia National Park Science Symposium April 16. The website, developed by Special Project Manager Duncan Bailey, is a repository for students, citizen scientists and community members to report observations of our changing environment. These reports are displayed on an interactive map and can help reveal trends, inform restoration and resource management efforts, and give users a broader understanding of their environment and the changes that are occurring due to climate change and other factors.

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Duncan Bailey presents Anecdata at the Acadia National Park Science Symposium

Partner Profile: Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater

Diver Ed's Dive-In Theater Boat Cruise, aboard the r/v Starfish Enterprise, is a 2-hour scenic boat ride out into Frenchman Bay. Diver Ed brings the underwater world of Frenchman Bay directly into the hands of visitors with the assistance of Mini Ed and Captain Evil, the League of Underwater Superheroes. Many, many families visiting MDI rave about the Dive-In Theater, not only for the entertainment Diver Ed provides, but for the hands on learning experience the whole crew provides. While connecting kids and adults to the underwater world, Diver Ed and his crew promote environmental stewardship and a sense of responsibility to the natural world.