American Lobster Initiative
The American Lobster Initiative (ALI) is a collaborative research program dedicated to addressing the critical knowledge gaps about the American lobster and its iconic fishery at a time of increasing environmental change and uncertainty. Supported by NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, ALI has funded more than 39 research projects since 2019, on a range of topics from lobster biology to the socio-economics of the lobster industry. By bringing together fishermen, researchers, and resource managers, the ALI aims to build resilience through research and collaboration. In addition to this growing body of research, Sea Grant staff provide outreach and communications support for projects teams, to ensure that ALI research is seamlessly synthesized and shared with the communities, fishermen, and policymakers who need it most. Learn more about ALI.
Funding for lobster industry and scientists!
The ALI is pleased to announce funding to support new collaborative research projects that closely align with emerging lobster industry and management needs. Projects must be developed and led by collaborative research teams that include at least one fishing industry representative, such as a commercial fisherman or a representative from a commercial fishing business, including cooperatives, dealers and processors. This call emphasizes research conducted with and for the industry, offering an exciting opportunity to support and elevate industry-research-management partnerships to address current ecological, regulatory, and socio-economic challenges faced by the American lobster fishery. Click below for details.
Research and Outreach Working Together
Funded Research
Research funded by the ALI addresses topics identified by the many players in the American lobster ecosystem, from scientists and natural resource managers to lobstermen and seafood processors. These research priorities emerge through regular and trusted connections between Northeast Sea Grant extension agents and members of the lobster industry. Core to the mission of a Sea Grant extension agent is to be responsive to changes in the community and environment – and to know when these priorities change. Since 2019, the ALI has funded more than 39 research projects through a competitive process that includes review by subject matter experts.
Projects can be grouped by eight major topics: Lobster Reproduction, Larvae and Juveniles, Lobster Growth, Lobster Prey, Predation and Pressures, Shifting Populations, Lobster Gear, and Socioeconomics.
Click on each thumbnail below to download a handout on the many research projects on that topic!
A Fishery in a Sea of Change StoryMap
Want to better understand the status of the American lobster industry and explore research funded by the ALI? Explore a collection of seven StoryMaps produced by the WHOI Sea Grant, Maine Sea Grant and NH Sea Grant programs! Click your way through vibrant photos, interviews with researchers, colorful data visualizations showcasing research findings, and facts about the rapidly changing Gulf of Maine.
Featured Research Stories
WHOI Sea Grant produced stories featuring ALI-funded researchers and their important work. Many were published in the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association’s monthly print newspaper, and some were turned into printable handouts.
Click on each image below to read and download the handout!
Our Outreach
Seven Northeast Sea Grant Programs have developed a collaborative approach to supporting a regionally coordinated American lobster extension program. Maine Sea Grant provides leadership and overall coordination for the effort, and New Hampshire, MIT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York Sea Grant programs lead locally-relevant components that contribute to the regional effort and be engaged in regional activities. The Regional Lobster Extension Program was designed to ensure that people working in the lobster industry and management across the Northeast benefit from the research funded by the ALI and other regional efforts.
Contacts
Gabriela Bradt, PhD
Fisheries Extension Specialist
New Hampshire Sea Grant
Email Gabriela Bradt
Gabby’s Profile
Michelle Brown
Lobster Research and Extension Coordinator
Maine Sea Grant College Program
Email Michelle Brown
Michelle’s Profile