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Watch this video explaining NH Sea Grant's role in developing markets for local fish that direct more money to struggling fishermen and their families!

Marine Aquaculture
In the last 10 years, UNH has become a leader in the field of marine aquaculture and in addressing the many challenges that this pursuit poses to biologists, ocean engineers, economists, resource managers and others. The University’s continuing effort in this field is coordinated by the NOAA/UNH Cooperative Institute of New England Mariculture and Fisheries (CINEMar). For a complete overview of these activities, please visit the Cooperative Institute’s web site. Continue to learn more about UNH Cooperative Extension's marine aquaculture activites by following the Aquaculture link on the Fisheries and Aquaculture tool bar.

Marine Fisheries

Following the dramatic decline in Gulf of Maine and George’s Bank fish stocks during the early 1990s, fishermen have faced a daunting list of regulations that dictate the gear they can use, the number of days they can fish, and how much they can land. To combat these limitations and preserve fishing as a means to make a living, many fishermen have evolved into innovative collaborators with university, state and government scientists, developing innovative fishing strategies that reduce bycatch, increase selectivity, and minimize their impact on benthic communities.

Since 1999 the Northeast Consortium and NOAA's Northeast Cooperative Research Partners Program have supported these collaborations.  One goal of NH Sea Grant and the UNH Cooperative Extension Fisheries program is to transfer the results of these collaborative partnerships through dock-side, at-sea and land-based outreach programming. In addition, the fisheries program continues to encourage industry participation in collaborative research, seeking to align fishermen with "ideas" with UNH and regional scientists. The preferred situation is one in which the fishing industry develops and self promotes the use of conservation minded fishing gear by working collaboratively with science and management.  This will be accomplished through outreach and education programs that build respect between stakeholders and that proactively transfers new technologies to the industry.