SMAST Professor Bradley Stevens has been awarded $220,000 in Saltonstall-Kennedy funds for a two-year study to improve the conservation of New England whelks, a kind of edible marine snail that currently supports a Massachusetts fishery of over $3 million in annual landed value. Working in cooperation with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, Stevens will investigate the biology and life history of the channeled whelk, the most landed and least studied New England species. The information will be provided to managers to improve the conservation of whelks in a sustainable manner.

His colleagues and friends at SMAST are grieving the passing of Dr. Edward R. Levine, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Estuarine and Ocean Sciences. Ed was a Senior Scientist/Oceanographer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and a collaborator of Prof. Lou Goodman in the Marine Turbulence Lab at SMAST. "We will miss his scientific contributions, his great enthusiasm, and his friendship," said Lou. An “In Memoriam” to Ed is posted on the Marine Turbulence Laboratory website.

SMAST was well represented at last week's Gordon Research Conference on Coastal Ocean Circulation at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. Five students and one professor presented posters to their colleagues from academic and research institutions throughout the country and abroad, including Canada, Chile, Estonia, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom. For a list of SMAST presenters and presentations, click here.

SMAST's built-in seawater system draws in water from Clark's Cove, making possible laboratory research on living marine organisms. But warm summer water from the cove can severely stress and even threaten the lives of creatures accustomed to life on Georges Bank and other colder-water environments, in turn threatening the research of those who study them. This spring, three graduate students conducting research in the Seawater Lab set about to build a better seawater system. Designed by SMAST Prof. Brad Stevens, the new system recirculates the seawater through chillers which lower the water temperature a few degrees with every pass, a biofilter to remove waste products, and a UV sterilizer system. Crista Bank (monkfish), Adam Barkley (flounder), and Fiona Hogan (skates) provided their labor, and the final pipe was put in place last week.

WCVB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Boston, last week aired an edition of Chronicle entitled “The new New Bedford.” The program focused on the traditional as well as the new, looking at why the city continues to be the highest grossing fishing port in the country. The first segment of the program profiles the local fishing industry, with an appearance by SMAST Professor Brian Rothschild. To view the program on line, click here.

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