Thanks to funding from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Marine Environmental Quality Program, the Huntsman Marine Science Centre is providing long-term archival support for the Gulf of Maine Council’s Gulfwatch mussel samples.
The Gulfwatch program conducted a transboundary chemical contaminants monitoring effort through the collection of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) at rotating sites across all Gulf of Maine jurisdictions—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Samples were collected between 1993 and 2012. The preservation of this unique collection provides an invaluable opportunity to:
- gain a regional perspective on the distribution and concentrations of toxic contaminants,
- establish a critical baseline for future monitoring efforts, and
- improve understanding of threats to environmental quality in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy.
Researchers interested in accessing archived samples must submit a research proposal to the Gulfwatch Archive Steering Committee in accordance with the proposal guidelines outlined in the Gulfwatch Management Plan.