• The Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education, $278,000 for demonstrating aquaculture technologies designed to increase the supply, quality and diversification of domestic seafood and field experiments with cultured arctic surf clams
• The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, $288,888 to study the issue of “choke species” in a changing climate. Choke species are fish with very small landings quotas and fishermen who haul them in as bycatch may be forced to stop fishing for other species.
• Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, $141,092 for the continuation and expansion of 2015 tagging effort studying lobster migration and growth on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.
• Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, $298,932 to study the phytoremediation potential of farmed kelp in connection with shellfish aquaculture.
• University of Maine, $299,623 for evaluating the life history and stock structure of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
• University of Maine, $275,308 for a study assessing the potential for sustainability of fishing-dependent coastal Maine communities in the face of environmental and socioeconomic change.