WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) announced today that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded $574,691 to the Maine Sea Grant College Program. The funds will be used to advance sustainable use and environmental conservation efforts along Maine’s coast led by the University of Maine.

“Thousands of Mainers in our state’s coastal communities rely on fishing, lobstering, and other ocean-related industries for their livelihoods,” said Senators Collins and King. “The National Sea Grant program has helped these businesses thrive by funding critical research that helps us better understand, utilize, and protect one of our state’s natural resources, and we are heartened by its continued partnership with the University of Maine.”

In past years, funding from NOAA’s Maine Sea Grant Program has had an enormous impact on Maine’s coastal economy by funding research that has benefitted fishermen, lobstermen, and all manner of ocean-based industries along Maine’s coast. Earlier this year, Senators Collins and King joined a group of their colleagues in a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to provide full funding for the program.

Designated as a Sea Grant College, the University of Maine is one of 33 NOAA Sea Grant programs throughout the coastal and Great Lakes states. The University of Maine chapter of NOAA’s Maine Sea Grant Program focuses on sustainable use and stewardship of marine and coastal resources. Sea Grant receives funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the NOAA National Sea Grant Office, where they focus on accomplishing their mission through research, outreach, and education.