Does Rockweed Harvest
Impact Coastal Birds?

No Conclusions

The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) hosted a meeting in Brewer to further the development of a rockweed management plan. Topics under consideration included possible impacts on coastal birds and seals by rockweed harvests. The state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife provided information on the matter.

The meeting was part of a process that also included two public listening sessions, in Yarmouth and Machias, to get local input on rockweed harvesting and its potential impacts. However, said DMR staffer Chris Vonderweidt, “there was not a lot brought forward.”

Examples of coastal birds include the North American Purple Sandpiper and harlequin ducks. According to the DMR website, Maine is an important wintering-over site for the North American Purple Sandpiper. Regional surveys conducted in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland suggest Maine may support over one-third of the bird’s North American wintering

Population, and 124 overwintering sites are indicated as needing protection, out of 380 in Maine.

The rockweed plan development team will continue to look at these issues and others related to wildlife, but no conclusions can be drawn at this time, said Vonderweidt.

Link to DMR website for bird information: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rm/rockweed/Workgroup/RockweedWorkingGroup.htm