By Michelle Corry, guest blogger

Owner, five-fifty-five and Petite Jacqueline

On June 1, five fifty-five and Petite Jacqueline will join 18 other Maine restaurants in a ten-day promotion of an underutilized Gulf of Maine seafood species.  The effort, known as Out of the Blue, is being coordinated by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and seeks to raise consumers’ awareness of lesser-known, locally harvested seafood.  Over the past year, GMRI has worked with chefs and fishermen to identify particular species from the Gulf of Maine that are underutilized or under-appreciated.  As a result, GMRI will be coordinating different Out of the Blue promotional weeks for each of the species.

The first species being promoted is redfish, also known as ocean perch.  Redfish was chosen because it is a well-managed and abundant fish, but fishermen only harvest about 30% of what they are allowed to take at a sustainable level.  While redfish can be found in restaurants and markets from time to time, it is not as well known as other Gulf of Maine seafood.  As part of Out of the Blue, five-fifty-five and Petite Jacqueline have committed to serving redfish from June 1 to June 10.  One dish at five-fifty-five will be “one fish, two fish, redfish, blue fish,” a tantalizing combination of dill-smoked New England bluefish, redfish mousseline, crispy red skin cracker, shaved celery salad, and just-charred lemon. Petite Jacqueline will serve up “redfish meuniere” with lemon-beurre blanc, green beans, and capers.

We are excited to participate in the program and feel it is an excellent way to support the local fishing industry, while also providing our guests with another delicious and healthy seafood option.  We are looking forward to this week’s promotion and other upcoming Out of the Blue promotions.

Paul Dobbins of Ocean Approved recently gave a talk as part of GMRI’s Sea State Lecture series. The Gulf of Maine has long produced some of the world’s most delicious fish and seafood offerings, but the idea that it can also be a source of vegetables like kelp is truly fascinating. If you missed the lecture or live too far from Portland to join us, you can listen to an audio recording of Paul’s talk.

By Michelle Loquine, Communications Coordinator, Fisheries Technical Assistance Program, GMRI

This month, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) hosted the “Innovative Strategies for Success Under Catch Shares” conference at the Portland Company on the Portland waterfront. One of the main objectives was to celebrate and foster ingenuity in the commercial fishing and seafood industry, particularly for those fisheries under a catch share management scheme like the New England groundfish sector system. Although catch shares can be a contentious topic, we hoped that this conference would invigorate attendees and inspire them to think creatively about ways that their fishing businesses and communities could transform and ultimately succeed under this type of management system. Part of the draw was the advances that have emerged as New England’s groundfish industry transitions to the sector system. The region is becoming a global model for innovative approaches to fisheries management.

Over the course of two days, the Portland Company’s 165 year-old brick walls, once home to prewar locomotive production, hummed again with an unmistakable, palpable energy generated from the eclectic cross-section of fishing industry and stakeholders that ranged from fishermen to seafood processors, gear engineers, scientists, managers, regulators, and community development representatives. By bringing together a refreshing mix of the creative minds from the seafood marketplace, the water, the community, and the management arena, participants were easily inspired to start exchanging ideas— and they certainly did!

The culmination of the conference came on the second day, when participants, panelists, and speakers created a “Marketplace” generated from small discussion groups. Everyone was encouraged to write down an idea or action that they could bring home with them and then hang them up onto the “Marketplace” wall to share with the rest of the group. It didn’t take long for the wall to fill up with slips of paper. Even more exciting was watching as participants read each other’s ideas — some even signed their names on  ideas that they wanted to act on.

Needless to say, GMRI’s Community team was thrilled to watch the results of months of careful planning come together so seamlessly. We look forward to hearing the stories of how the conference translates into innovation in fisheries here and in other regions, and we are already looking forward to the potential for future conferences.

To learn more about the conference , visit www.gmri.org/conference.

View more photos of the conference.

By Jen Levin, Sustainable Seafood Program Manager

I love my job. I get to work on my passion for sustainability alongside the fabulous people who harvest, process, deliver, and sell seafood. It doesn’t get much better than that…

Well, it just did. This year, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute started working with fishermen and chefs to build markets for underutilized and underappreciated seafood. As a result of this work, we will be at Maine’s premier food event, the Harvest on the Harbor, helping to promote bountiful, but less appreciated, seafood species from the Gulf of Maine. The event, The Ultimate Seafood Splash, will take place on October 20th, from noon to 2:30 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the fishermen who harvest seafood and the chefs who expertly prepare it. Of course, this “foodie” event will include plenty of tastings paired with wine. Check out the Portland Press Herald article for a preview. Tickets are still available!

As I mentioned, our participation in this event spawned from our longer-term efforts to build markets for underutilized and underappreciated species from the Gulf of Maine.  Along with our steering team of food service professionals and fishermen, we plan to raise awareness and market value for these species in the Gulf of Maine region. Read more about our efforts in the Press Herald. Keep an eye out for promotions and consider supporting the restaurants that are involved.

By Olivia Tansley, Development Coordinator

We were thrilled to host Portland Greendrinks along with Maine Businesses for Sustainability (MBS) in July. It was a great opportunity to provide guests with fun ways to learn more about GMRI and the work we do.  We created “learning stations” on each of our three floors to highlight our Vital Signs science education program, Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested seafood branding program, gear technology research, and lobster research. The learning stations were a big hit, but the most engaging part of the experience for the GMRI staff, interns, and board members who attended was talking with others throughout the evening. It’s always great to make new connections, learn about what others are up to, and talk about what makes GMRI such an exciting organization.