Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

Projects > Overview

To support its Action Plan goals and advance the work of allied organizations, the Council conducts and funds a wide variety of projects, including conferences, environmental monitoring, publications, grants, and awards. Some examples are listed below. Many additional activities are conducted through the Council’s committees and partner organizations.

Regional Habitat Monitoring Data System (RHMDS): The RHMDS provides a user-friendly, standardized data entry mechanism that allows integration of coastal monitoring datasets from around the Gulf of Maine. The data can be displayed in maps, graphs, and reports to paint a clear picture of habitat conditions and trends regionally and at individual sites. By integrating data from around the Gulf of Maine, this new tool will make possible more effective and timely coastal habitat management. As a proof of concept, this system has been developed initially with data from a limited number of monitoring sites in salt marshes and seagrass beds. Ultimately the RHMDS will include other coastal habitat data to serve multiple partners around the Gulf of Maine and enhance understanding of coastal ecosystems.
Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative (GOMMI): The Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative (GOMMI) is a U.S.-Canadian partnership of government and nongovernment organizations to conduct comprehensive seafloor imaging, mapping, and biological and geological surveys. GOMMI has released its strategic plan for review and comment.
Gulf of Maine Times: Launched by the Council in 1997, Gulf of Maine Times is a free quarterly newspaper reaching a circulation of 10,000 scientists, resource managers, educators, environmental non-profit workers, and the general public. Through feature articles, profiles, book reviews and essays, the Gulf of Maine Times educates about social, environmental, and scientific issues that impact the Gulf's complex ecosystems. Because of the span of our readership, the Times serves to bring the most complicated issues to a level where they can be understood by the greatest number of readers.
Gulfwatch Monitoring Program: The Gulfwatch Monitoring Program helps to assess the fate and impacts of toxic contaminants in the Gulf of Maine. By measuring contaminant concentrations in blue mussels, researchers are gaining insights into the distribution and concentration of heavy metals, pesticides, and organic contaminants.
Habitat restoration grants program: The Gulf of Maine Council offers grants for habitat restoration in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Funded projects include engineering studies, restoration work, and post-restoration monitoring.
Gulf of Maine Marine Habitat Primer: The Gulf of Maine Marine Habitat Primer enhances understanding of marine habitats in the Gulf of Maine; provides background needed to make more informed decisions on human uses, management, and conservation; and provides an initial step toward a habitat conservation strategy for the Gulf of Maine, which will be developed in partnership with organizations around the Gulf.
Action Plan grants program: The Gulf of Maine Council offers grants for citizen groups and community organizations to pursue projects that support its priority goals. Through a competitive grant process, the Council awards grants of up to $10,000 US ($15,800 Canadian) annually.
Annual recognition awards: Each year, the Council gives Gulf of Maine Visionary Awards and the Longard Volunteer Award.
Gulf of Maine Summit: Committing to Change was convened October 26-29, 2004, at the Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The Summit brought together coastal experts, concerned citizens, fisheries and aquaculture representatives, businesses, and leaders from around the Gulf of Maine to celebrate 15 years of partnerships, assess current environmental conditions, share knowledge, and together develop plans for future actions needed to continue improving the environmental quality of the Gulf.
Northeast Coastal Indicators Workshop: The Northeast Coastal Indicators Workshop was held January 6-9, 2004, at the University of New Hampshire. The goal of the workshop was to develop indicators that apply to the northeast coastal region of the United States (New York to Maine) and Canada (Gulf of Maine).
Atlantic Northeast Coastal Monitoring Summit: The Atlantic Northeast Coastal Monitoring Summit met on December 10-12, 2002, in Durham, New Hampshire, to develop a framework and strategy for a regional monitoring network for the northeast coastal region of the United States (New York to Maine) and Canada (Gulf of Maine).
Gulf of Maine Science Translation Project: The Gulf of Maine Science Translation Project accelerated the transfer of scientific findings and techniques to resource managers, planners, policy makers, and other coastal decision-makers in the region. Peter Taylor (Waterview Consulting) and Ethan Nedeau (Biodrawversity) responded to the needs of this target audience by gathering, synthesizing, and communicating information to facilitate science-based decision-making.