First published in Landings, January, 2020
The Department of Marine Resources recently hired Amber Lisi to lead research efforts for the state scallop fishery.
For the past year, Lisi has served as a fisheries research technician for the Marine Fisheries Field Research Group (MFFRG) at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST). There she oversaw undergraduate lab technicians and graduate students who were conducting at-sea and laboratory research on the Atlantic sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, and the Patagonian scallop, Zygochlamys patagonica. The research focused on the use of high-resolution imagery to assess population dynamics, including spatial distribution, local abundance, global abundance, life-history parameters, and habitat.
Her responsibilities also included serving as chief scientist for multiple at-sea surveys, providing quality control for image analysis, assisting with grant proposal writing and reporting, and presenting research at international conferences and to the public.
Lisi received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from the University of Rhode Island in 2012 and a Master of Science degree in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2017.
As the lead biologist for Maine’s sea scallop fishery, Lisi is responsible for the coordination, implementation, and participation in the sea scallop survey, sampling, and assessment program.
She will coordinate the surveying, sampling and analysis of the inshore and offshore components of the state’s scallop resource and supervising seasonal fishery independent dredge surveys, in-season surveys, monitoring of the scallop commercial catch and effort while also maintaining the scallop sampling database. Lisi will serve as a member of the New England Fisheries Management Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT).