Mitchell Center to host talk on lessons from fisheries for burgeoning ocean industries

ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk titled ”Gulf of Maine development: What can fishing teach us?” on Monday, Sept. 30 at 3 p.m.

Robin Alden, a longtime and now retired leader in Maine fisheries, will discuss what lessons emerging industries like aquaculture and offshore wind power can take from the commercial fishing industry as they seek to create value by operating within the changing ecology of the Gulf of Maine. She will also highlight the gulf as a complex ecosystem and longstanding policies that have regulated commercial fishing in the state.

Alden, who previously earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from UMaine, has been involved in fisheries since the early 1970s when she founded Commercial Fisheries News. She was a public member of New England Fishery Management Council, Maine commissioner of marine resources for former governor and current U.S. Sen. Angus King, and co-founded the Maine Fishermen’s Forum and Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries. She retired in 2018 and lives in Stonington with her husband, Ted Ames.

All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series , which feature speakers from diverse backgrounds, are free and are offered both remotely via Zoom and in person in 107 Norman Smith Hall at UMaine.

Registration is required to attend remotely. To register and receive connection information, visit the event webpage . To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth, at 207-581-3196 or hallsworth@maine.edu.

The Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine aspires to be a leader and valued partner in understanding and solving problems related to the growing challenge of improving human well-being while protecting the environment. We collaborate with diverse stakeholders and bring together faculty and students from many different fields. By connecting knowledge with action, we seek to create a brighter environmental, social and economic future in and beyond Maine.

As Maine’s only public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution, the University of Maine advances learning and discovery through excellence and innovation. Founded in 1865 in Orono, UMaine is the state’s land, sea and space grant university with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. Our students come from all over the world and work with faculty conducting fieldwork around the globe — from the North Atlantic to the Antarctic. Located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation with UMaine Machias located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation, UMaine’s statewide mission is to foster an environment that creates tomorrow’s leaders. As the state’s flagship institution, UMaine offers nearly 200 degree programs through which students can earn bachelor’s, master’s, professional master’s and doctoral degrees as well as graduate certificates. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu/about/quick-facts/ and machias.edu/about-umm/umm-facts/ .