Project update, June 2002
My class had a great visit from Craig's assistants in April. Carla Morin and a ex-newspaper reporter (unfortunately I can't remember his name) did an excellent presentation on the fishing industry and a oyster seeding program that is on going in Southern Maine. I wanted to bring the class to visit Craig's boat, but the class schedule just didn't work out. I did bring my students to a career day that the Maine Department of Marine Resources put on at their research center in Boothbay Harbor which was very informative. The students attended presentations on the shrimp industry and how they are being studied for population and reproduction in the Gulf of Maine. Other presentations the DMR had were on Aquaculture in Maine and how it is regulated, herring stock populations in the Gulf of Maine, the lobster industry, and the regulation of the shellfish industry and how they test the coast of Maine for redtide. It was an all day event and the students had a great day!

In mid-May. I arranged for the students to go out on a local lobster boat through one on my students who works summers as a sternmen. The students not only got to see how lobsters traps are hauled, but also got to see how the lobstermen regulate their own industry. We also took the time to perform some plankton tows at the mouth of Muscongus Bay and in the inner reaches of the bay. Along with the plankton tows the students also took water samples at different levels and took water visibility tests for the depth of the photic zones which was part of their research on plankton blooms in the bay. We spent half the day out on the boat then we went to the Mook Sea Farm in Walpole, Maine. William Mook happens to be my sister-in-law's cousin so the students got the royal tour of the facility. The Mook Sea Farm raises quahogs and oysters at their facility and even raise special types of plankton to feed the shellfish. The quahogs are just raised to seed size and then sold to another aquaculture facility in Maryland. The oysters are raised to seed size in their facility then grown to market size in the upper Damariscotta River and sold around the country for oyster's on the half-shell. The students learned why the Damariscotta River is idea for aquaculture of oysters due to several constrictions on the river that slow the water flow and allow the water temperature to be idea for oyster habitat. 

The students also kept current on the court case in Washington D.C. and how it was affecting the marine industry with particular attention to the species they were studying. Each student had to research a particular marine species that supported a marine fishing industry. They had to track the population of their species over the last several decades and to investigate what regulations pertained and affected their marine industry. 
I plan to use the Adopt-A-Boat program more next year in my Marine Biology classes and hopefully include some of the program in my other science classes as well.

February 2002
In the middle of March I will be much more connected to the AAB program as I will be starting my marine biology III class which centers around the commercial fishing industry and deep water marine ecology. I just use the bathy data from Fleetlink last week in my class. I had my students plot the temperatures to depth and then find the mixing layers, main thermocline, and deep water. I had data from the west coast also and had them compare the two BT traces they plot and discuss them. It worked out pretty well.

Spring Plans
What I really want to do with my class is track Craig's boat catches, how much is caught and how much has to be thrown back, how the fishing regulations are affecting his business and the industry as a whole. My students will be studying marine resources with a specific focus on Maine's fishing industry. Some of my students are involved directly in the fishing industry (mostly lobstering) and others have very little knowledge of the industry. We will be looking at fishing stock substainablity and researching all sides of this issue.

Project Summary
What I would really like to do is look at the fishing industry through the eyes of those involved in the industry itself.  The class I want to involve in the project is my marine biology class which is composed of both high school juniors and seniors.  Some of these student's families are involved in the fishing industry.  I would like to obtain and track fish catches as well as get first hand knowledge of how the fishing industry is surviving.  Some topics I would like to have my students explore are sustainability, fish population information, how regulations on the fishing industry are affecting the fishermen themselves, how they feel about these regulations, etc.  I would like to get ideas and opinions of the people involved in the industry as well as a marine biologist and the people involved in the regulatory process.  I would like my students to gain an informed, overall view of the fishing industry itself.  I would like to have guest speakers visit my classroom that are representatives of all aspects of the fishing industry.