The Fall-Winter 2025-2026 issue of Wrack Lines magazine invites readers to take a fresh look at the estuary that is the signature natural feature for our state. As the Long Island Sound Partnership celebrates 40 years, articles in the magazine explore plans to keep the momentum going, some of its special places, and how public perceptions have changed.
News
Over $900K awarded to support resilience planning in 14 LIS communities
Fourteen coastal communities in the Long Island Sound region have been awarded $909,121 in planning support to advance resilience-focused projects through the second round of the Long Island Sound Resilience Planning Support program.
Registration open for Foundations of Shellfish Farming 2026
Foundations of Shellfish Farming is an in-person training course for new and prospective farmers and those who simply seek to learn more about aquaculture practices and techniques. It will be offered on Tuesday evenings from Jan. 20 to April 7, 2026 at UConn Avery Point.
When it comes to safety at sea, ‘you’ve got to practice it’
Pavel Ivanov has spent many hours harvesting surf clams and ocean quahogs aboard the F/V Sea Watcher II out of New Bedford, Mass., but had never practiced getting into an immersion survival suit or boarding a life raft before coming to UConn Avery Point for a sea safety workshop.
Connecticut Sea Grant Arts Support Awards Program
Connecticut Sea Grant, through its Arts Support Awards Program, will award up to $1000 to an artist or group of artists. The winning submission will be selected on the basis of aesthetic quality, relevance to coastal and marine environments and Connecticut Sea Grant themes, as well as its potential impact on the wider public and new audiences.
Associate Director Nancy Balcom receives national award
Connecticut Sea Grant Associate Director Nancy Balcom received the William Q. Wick Visionary Career Leadership Award from the Sea Grant Extension Assembly, given “in recognition of outstanding career achievement, leadership, vision and contribution to Sea Grant Extension through administration.”
Two great marine science events offered at Sound School
Registration is open for two workshops in September at The Sound School co-sponsored by Maryland Sea Grant, “Aquaculture in Action,” and “Biofilms, Biodiversity & Microplastics.”
CT, NY Sea Grant funded flounder research makes news
Two CT media outlets featured a current research project titled “Bottoming Out? Testing Hypothesis on Why Long Island Sound Flatfishes Are Disappearing,” funded as part of the 2025-2027 collaborative between the CT and NY Sea Grant programs and the EPA’s Long Island Sound Partnership.
CTSG shellfish training course spotlighted on CT public radio
Connecticut Public Radio broadcast “Aspiring shellfish farmers get a boost from CT training program,” on Sept. 3, 2025, about the oysterman Samuel Tucker and the training he received in the CT Sea Grant aquaculture course.
406 pounds of trash uplifted along with volunteers’ spirits
For Amanda Kostalis of Wallingford, spending a Saturday morning extracting plastic cups, food wrappers and other garbage from the rocks along the New Haven shoreline is a kind of public service therapy. “I try to volunteer as much as I can,” she said. “It helps to combat those feelings of hopelessness.”