The replica of the Mayflower, recently refurbished at Mystic Seaport, does sail training exercises in July and August in Long Island Sound near the UConn Avery Point campus, where CT Sea Grant is based.Lindsey Kollmer, CT River River Estuary Aquatic Invasive Plant Steward, pulls invasive water chestnut from Selden CoveCrew members of Pot Luck, a vessel owned by Sam Fernandez of Sam's Seafood, sort clams from oysters as part of a restoration of natural shellfish beds near Bridgeport on June 10.Customers leave with oysters and lobsters purchased on May 23 at the new direct sales market at the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative.Dockside Seafood self-service market opened in New London has seen a significant increase in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.Participants in the National Seaweed Symposium gather near one of the exhibits at the Seaweed Showcase on the second day of the event.Members of the state's municipal shellfish commissions gathered for the 16th annual meeting on Jan. 11.Students in the 2019 Coastal Certificate classes gather after a graduation event Oct. 13 with Judy Preston, bottom center, who leads the program at CT Sea Grant.New Britain YWCA summer campersUniversity of Delaware student Samuel Koeck, center, and Sacred Heart University students Jeffrey Young, right, and Adrian Nelson, second from left, work with Chris Hauser (in mini-excavator) to improve the living shoreline at Stratford Point in a project jointly funded by CT and DE Sea Grants.Passengers walk toward the docks at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk after the July 26 On-the-Water Workshop aboard Spirit of the Sound.Sea Grant dayak fleet takes to the Mystic River on July 3 to test out a new aquaculture eco-tour being developed in partnership with Adventure Mystic, Mystic Oysters & Connecticut Cultured Oysters.Maria Cruz, second from right, and her family look for clues during the Thames River Quest at Fort Trumbull State Park sponsored by CT Sea Grant and the Thames River Heritage Park.Shad is cooked on planks around a fire at the Essex Annual Shad Bake.Students in the “Global One Health: U.S. and Irish Perspective” class at UConn see kelp harvested from J.P. Vellotti’s beds in Groton as part of a visit to the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative on May 16 organized by CT Sea Grant.Volunteers from the Avalonia Land Conservancy move a shad bush into place for planting at the Dodge Paddock Beal Preserve in Stonington on May 3 as part of a restoration and living shoreline project with Connecticut Sea Grant.Karen Wynn of Guilford, left, looks at "They Came By Water," one of the pieces in the "Crosscurrents" exhibit, with Kam Ghaffari of East Lyme. Behind them is "Sea Form" another of the works in the show.Nissrine Essafi, a student in the Climate Corps class taught by CT Sea Grant's Juliana Barrett and Bruce Hyde, shows a map of Charleston, S.C., during a presentation of a project about sea level rise impacts.Early results show sand lance larva, shown in closeup, are particulary sensitive to higher levels of carbon dioxide. Photo courtesy of Hannes BaumannThe team from the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut won the 22nd Annual Quahog bowl.
Kristin Walker, project engineer for the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, explains how the former home site is now being planted with native species to create a flood plain habitat.

As seas rise, communities can turn retreat into opportunity

November 18, 2020

Retreat isn’t defeat. It’s deliberately stepping back to make a better future. “Retreat is very difficult, but it’s going to happen. Wouldn’t it be better to have a managed process?” asked A.R. Siders, keynote speaker at the “Managed Retreat in the Age of Climate Change” workshop.

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Bipartisan bill to provide $483M for Sea Grant passes house

November 17, 2020

Connecticut 2nd District Rep. Joe Courtney and the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the bipartisan National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2020 (S. 910), which authorizes $483 million over four years for the National Sea Grant College Program.

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Lank acknowledgement sign at Hartman Park in Lyme.

In the Lyme woods, a reminder of a diverse past

November 16, 2020

In this article published on the opinion page of The Day of New London on Nov. 15, CT Sea Grant Communications Coordinator Judy Benson credits a land acknowledgement sign on a hiking trail with giving new inspiration for diversity initiatives.

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A G&B Shellfish Farm crewman sorts oysters from clams aboard the Stasie Frances on June 10. The vessel was working natural shellfish beds offshore from Fairfield as part of the natural shellfish bed restoration project led by Connecticut Sea Grant and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture/Bureau of Aquaculture.

Shellfish farmers stay afloat with innovation, financial aid     

October 30, 2020

CT shellfish farmers endured the precipitous sales losses that nearly shut their businesses during the early days of the pandemic last spring. Now they are preparing to weather what could be even tougher months ahead, with fresh influxes of financial aid coming just when they’re going to need it most.

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Managed retreat workshop flyer

Managed retreat is topic of Nov. 13 virtual workshop

October 14, 2020

The Climate Adaptation Academy is offering a free webinar, “Managed Retreat in the Age of Climate Change,” with a keynote address by national expert A.R. Siders and discussion and examples of the legal, social and practical questions raised when considering retreat from vulnerable coastal areas.

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Volunteers can celebrate estuaries by joining CT Cleanup

September 16, 2020

You don’t have to live near the beach to do your part on International Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday Sept. 19. Picking up and documenting litter anywhere in the state that day will contribute to keeping all our lands and waterways clean, including Long Island Sound.

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