Author: Ashley  E.  Sarra

Major: Marine Sciences

Graduation Year: 2018

Thesis Advisor: Aaron L. Strong

Description of Publication: Ascophyllum nodosum, better known as rockweed, is a commercially important, harvested intertidal brown alga species common in coastal Maine. Rockweed sea vegetable harvesting is a lucrative wild harvest fishery, that has also proved to be socially contentious and whose future management is uncertain 1,2. A. nodosum is an intertidal macroalgal species that may also be impacted by sea level rise. Through a combination of biomass estimation, newspaper analysis, and interview data collection, this project seeks to (a) develop a typology of ecological services of A. nodosum in harvested and unharvested areas in the state of Maine; and (b) assess the stakeholder perspectives amidst the Ross v. Acadian Sea Plants Ltd. court case.

Location of Publication:

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/358