Bill Needleman, waterfront director for the City of Portland (left) speaks with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Dept. of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and U.S. Sen. Angus King in Portland on July 26, 2024. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star)
Two of Maine’s members of Congress are demanding the Trump administration immediately reverse its “reckless decision” to terminate a federal grant boosting research and economic development for coastal communities.
The decision to abruptly cancel a four-year, $4.5 million funding agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Maine will have “catastrophic consequences,” wrote independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
“We expect an immediate response and a serious reconsideration of this ill-advised decision,” Pingree and King said in the letter. “The impact of your actions will not go unnoticed, and we will not stop fighting for the future of Maine Sea Grant and its vital work in our communities.”
The Maine Sea Grant has helped finance statewide research, strengthened coastal communities and supported thousands of jobs over more than five decades. It also fosters hands-on marine science education for students of all grade levels, storm preparedness for working waterfronts and research to inform lobster and other fisheries management.
Of the nearly three dozen Sea Grant programs, Maine’s seems to be the only one cut
However, the university was notified last Friday that the grant would be immediately discontinued.
In its letter to the university, NOAA said the Maine Sea Grant is “no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives.” King and Pingree called this justification “perplexing and deeply troubling.”
Maine’s Sea Grant is one of 34 across the nation and seemingly the only one that has received notice of funding being cut off. King and Pingree noted in their letter that they also have not heard of other terminations, leading them to “believe that Maine’s program has been unfairly singled out.”
The decision to end Maine Sea Grant funding came about a week after President Donald Trump threatened Gov. Janet Mills after a heated exchange over the state not complying with an executive order barring transgender students from competing in women’s athletics.
Every federal dollar spent on the Sea Grant results in $15 of economic activity in the state, amounting to a total annual impact of $23.5 million, said university spokesperson Samantha Warren. Additionally, Maine’s marine economy grew from 2011 to 2021 in the number of marine businesses and jobs, and saw increases in average employee wages and gross domestic product, according to a fact sheet NOAA published last year.
“The termination of funding will have catastrophic consequences for the University of Maine, Maine Sea Grant’s twenty employees, our marine industries, and the broader coastal economy,” King and Pingree said. “It is critical that the federal government honor its commitment to supporting research and development in coastal communities to ensure the future success and resilience of Maine’s marine economy.”
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