AMHERST, Mass. -- Despite its inland location, the University of Massachusetts has garnered more then $300,000 in federal funding this year for marine fisheries research and education.
That amount is the highest ever for the Cooperative Marine Education and Research (CMER) Program, which has been funded under a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1989.
CMER enables the federal marine agency to tap into the University's expertise for research on marine issues. The program also provides training for UMass graduate students.
Projects funded by NOAA this year cover a wide range of scientific disciplines. Researchers at UMass are currently examining the schooling behavior of bluefin tuna, the reproductive characteristics of Atlantic cod, the feeding relationships of fishes on Georges Bank, the effect of contaminants on the reproductive success of winter flounder, and the downstream movements of Atlantic salmon in the Merrimack river. They are also refining the techniques for detection of trace metals in the marine food chain, and for detection of irradiated seafood.
"We are delighted with the level of federal support for UMass research," says John Boreman, director of the UMass/NOAA CMER Program. "Because our campus isn't situated on the coats, many people don't realize the talent the University has available to address marine issues. Actually, UMass is in an excellent location for marine research; in terms of distance to the coastal areas to which our research applies, we're really quite centrally located."
In addition, this is the first year that NOAA, through the UMass Amherst CMER program, is supporting research on other UMass campuses, specifically, UMass Dartmouth. Investigators there will be evaluating a possible shift in the plankton community of the northwest Atlantic ocean, and conducting a baseline economic study of the hook, small trawler, and charter boat fisheries off the northeast U.S. coats.
CMER also arranged four student internships in the fisheries management division of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Gloucester, Mass. The students spent last summer working side-by-side with agency staff in a program designed to help the fishing industry adjust to new regulations imposed to protect the dwindling supply of cod, haddock, and flounder.
CMER is administered through The Environmental Institute at the University. To date, more then $1.2 million in cooperative projects have been funded through the program, involving 24 faculty members and staff, and sponsoring close to 70 undergraduate and graduate students.
