May 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. Commercial Fishing News DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES NEWS
Colin MacDonald Promoted to Sergeant of Marine Patrol Section 6 Colin MacDonald a nine year veteran of the Maine Marine Patrol has been promoted to the rank of Sergeant in Section 6, which stretches from the Hancock Bridge to Cana- dian Border. Sergeant MacDonald began his career with the Marine Patrol in August 2004, serving as an Offi cer until 2010. He was then promoted to Specialist, a position he held until his January 2014 promotion. “Sergeant MacDonald is an exemplary Marine Patrol offi cial,” said Division II Lieutenant Jay Carroll. “Throughout his career he has set a standard of excellence and professionalism in the way he relates to com- mercial fi shermen and other Marine Patrol constituents. In the few months he has been in this new position, Sergeant MacDonald has demonstrated the type of leadership that will serve him and the offi cers under his command well.” Sergeant MacDonald received a Bach- elor of Science in Natural Resource Law Enforcement from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1999. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in Criminal Justice in 1999.
MacDonald has completed numerous law-enforcement and associated training programs, including the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Basic Law Enforcement Training School, Advanced OUI Training, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Tactical Boat Operators Course. He has also com- pleted the Advanced Reid Interview and Interrogation School, recognized as the most effective method for to interrogation. Sergeant MacDonald is Licensed
Maine Whitewater, Hunting and Recre- ational Guide, a US Coast Guard Licensed Boat Captain and is Certifi ed in Level Three Whale Disentanglement. As a Sergeant, MacDonald will oversee six Marine Patrol Offi cers and assets in Sec- tion 6, including the Patrol Vessel Maine. “Sergeant MacDonald’s combination of experience and expertise makes him uniquely suited to provide leadership to the Marine Patrol Offi cers patrolling this very busy stretch of the Maine coast,” said Lieutenant Carroll.
FDA fi nds Bigelow Laboratory in com- pliance with standards for fi rst-in-na- tion shellfi sh toxin method
New Protocol Allows DMR to Conduct More Frequent Testing Resulting in More Shellfi sh Harvest Areas Remaining Open The U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion recently evaluated the Bigelow Ana- lytical Services (BAS) facility and found it in compliance with National Shellfi sh San- itation Program (NSSP) standards, making BAS the fi rst in the nation to offer a new protocol to test for paralytic shellfi sh toxins in bivalve shellfi sh. The new method replac- es the mouse bioassay testing method used for the past 40 years, with an instrumental analysis that measures toxicity levels more precisely and effi ciently.
The result of a partnership between the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and BAS that started 18 months ago, the testing involves sample collection and extraction by DMR coupled with sample processing and analysis by BAS. Offi cials from the FDA spent three days at BAS and DMR assessing the labs’ equip- ment, procedures, and ensuring that staff conformed with all requirements associated with the method. The FDA is charged with evaluating labs throughout the country and the world to ensure they comply with NSSP
standards and are capable of performing methods approved for bivalve shellfi sh san- itation. DMR is the state shellfi sh authority charged with implementing sampling and testing protocols that ensure public health and safety.
“This is a huge step forward in improv- ing the way shellfi sh are tested for toxins,” said Carlton Rauschenberg, Bigelow Ana- lytical Services Supervisor. “Paralytic shellfi sh toxin can be deadly. The quality and sensitivity of data produced by this method far exceeds what the national shellfi sh program has been able to achieve with the mouse bioassay.”
“The new testing protocol also allows the Department of Marine Resources to con- duct testing more frequently and with great- er fl exibility than with the mouse bioassay testing protocol,” said DMR Growing Area Program Supervisor, Alison Sirois. “This fl exibility and greater frequency of testing allows the DMR to be more targeted in our closures, which benefi ts industry by allow- ing more areas to remain open to shellfi sh harvesting.”
“I am extremely proud of the work done both by DMR and BAS in successfully de- veloping this public/private partnership and for leading the nation in transitioning to an accurate and cost effective method for bio- toxin analysis,” said Kohl Kanwit, Director of the DMR Bureau of Public Health. “This advance puts Maine at the cutting edge of assessing shellfi sh safety,” added Bigelow Laboratory’s Executive Director, Graham Shimmield.
The method being implemented at BAS
was fi rst developed collaboratively between Canada’s National Research Council Insti- tute of Marine Biosciences and the Cana- dian Food Inspection Agency’s Dartmouth laboratory. Similar instrumental methods have been implemented in Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe. Maine’s rollout will be the fi rst in the United States. With FDA’s successful evaluation of BAS and DMR, it is expected that other states will follow Maine’s lead.
The Maine DMR and Bigelow Labora- tory for Ocean Sciences have been collabo- rating on biotoxin monitoring for more than 30 years. In 1980 John W. Hurst of DMR and Clarice M. Yentsch of Bigelow joined forces on a paper that set the stage for research around red tide in the Gulf of Maine. This new, more effi cient way to analyze samples at BAS will aid resource management de- cisions at the state level, a continuation of this long-term collaboration to maximize the effi cient use of state resources and safe- guarding people’s health.
Equipment used in the analysis include high-pressure liquid chromatography cou- pled to a post-column oxidation system. During the busy summer season, BAS expects to process up to 40 samples per day that will enable the State to make closure decisions in a timely way.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sci- ences conducts research ranging from mi- crobial oceanography to large-scale ocean processes that affect the global environment. Recognized as a leader in Maine’s emerging innovation economy, the Laboratory’s re- search, education, and technology transfer programs are spurring signifi cant economic growth in the state.
Hovercraft Shared by Marine Patrol and Warden Service for Search and Rescue
With ice-bound waterways breaking up
and river fl ooding an increasing threat, the Maine Marine Patrol and the Maine Warden Service are well-equipped for search and rescue operations on both coastal and inland
waters thanks to grants from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
The grant funds allowed the two agen- cies to acquire a hovercraft in 2012 and after two years of training, the Marine Patrol and Warden Service are prepared to use this unique piece of equipment for rescues on ice-choked harbors and waterways, as well as coastal fl ats and other areas that are diffi - cult to access by boat.
Housed in the Marine Patrol’s Rockland boat repair facility, the hovercraft is avail- able to both agencies for search-and-rescue operations in the mixed terrain they often encounter throughout the year due to its ability to navigate over nearly any terrain. Manufactured by Michigan-based Hovertechnics, the hovercraft is propelled by fans mounted on the stern. Part of the fan thrust is ducted through the double skin hull to lift the craft off the surface on a cushion of air. This lift air is contained under the craft by fl exible segmented skirts that keep the air cushion pressure up, which allows it to travel over a variety of terrain from ice to water to marshes. “It’s like no snowmobile, ATV or water- craft that anyone would have operated,” said Sergeant Ron Dunham of the Maine Warden Service. “There’s no resistance to the surface once you’re on hover. So it takes a unique set of skills. The operators have been hand- picked by the respective departments. We’ll be training more operators as time goes on.” “As we come into fl ood season this spring, this piece of equipment will be ex- tremely helpful,” said Marine Patrol Pilot Steven Ingram, who is directing the Marine Patrol operator training. “The Patriots Day fl ood in 2007 and the St. John Valley fl ood in 2008 were great examples of situations where the hovercraft would have helped us and the Warden Service in our search and rescue and evacuation efforts.”
“The partnership is very important
because Marine Patrol and the Warden Service cover very similar areas and often times work together to perform searches and rescues,” said Dunham. “It’s important to have a variety of operators in different parts of the state, and we’re collaborating with the Marine Patrol to share that responsibility to have available operators in any emergency throughout the State of Maine.” Training was conducted by both agen- cies in January on Chickawauckie Pond in Rockland, during which offi cers from the Marine Patrol and the Warden Service took turns navigating the hovercraft over the ice and through a series of cones.
Acquired with grant money from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, which receives proceeds from the Outdoor Heritage lottery tickets, and the Maine Emergency Manage- ment Agency, the hovercraft cost approxi- mately $78,000. “It’s important to have this type of
technology,” said Ingram. “It’s another tool in the tool box. If this hovercraft saves one life, it has paid for itself for the rest of its existence.”
Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher Appointed as Commissioner of the Council of the North Atlantic Salmon Con- servation Organization
Maine Department of Marine Resourc- es Commissioner Patrick Keliher has been appointed by President Obama to serve as Commissioner of the Council of North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO). The appointment does not inter- fere with his role as commissioner of DMR. NASCO is an international organiza- tion, established by an inter-governmental Convention in 1984. The objective of NA- SCO is to conserve, restore, enhance and rationally manage Atlantic salmon through international cooperation taking account of
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