BIDDEFORD — While there may be no more seals at the University of New England’s Marine Science Center, there is still plenty of marine life in the facility.

On Monday, Dr. James Sulikowski, a professor and researcher in the UNE Department of Marine Sciences, showed off some of the animals housed and being studied in the facility including a sturgeon, green crabs, oysters and sea scallops.

The scallops are of particular interest because recently Sulikowski, partnering with other researchers, was awarded a $1.6 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant for a study, the findings of which will be used to better manage that important fishery.

The UNE professor, along with Dr. John Mandelman from the New England Aquarium, and Dr. David Rudders of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, who is the lead scientist on the project, will study incidental mortality of Atlantic sea scallops in their research project entitled “Discard Mortality of Sea Scallops Following Capture and Handling in the Sea Scallop Dredge Fishery.”

Sulikowski said he’s been studying scallops for the last few years, and Rudders has been studying the bivalve mollusk for 15-plus years.

Researchers in Alaska and Canada are also participating in the study, he said. The study is important, because while Maine may be known worldwide for its lobsters, the scallop industry could be more lucrative. The scallop fishery “is the most important fishery on the East Coast,” said Sulikowski. “That’s our bread and butter.”

In addition, he said, last year “was the biggest scallop year for our state.”

In 2013, Maine’s scallop fishery was valued at $5 million ”“ the highest in 15 years, according to UNE. Scallop landings weighed in at 525,000 pounds, the highest in 13 years.

Along the East Coast, the sea scallop fishery is the most valuable single species fishery; it’s estimated worth is $558 million.

The results of the research project could allow scallop fishermen to land more of the precious mollusks.

To collect data for the study, 12 UNE undergraduate and graduate students will go out on boats with fishermen for about a week at a time, said Sulikowski. Research will begin in July and take place over two years.

Fieldwork will take place at the New Bedford, Massachusetts fishery, he said, but the findings on “how we can best sustain scallop fisheries ”¦ will be useful everywhere.”

During the study, said Rudders, students will take scallops that, for a variety of reasons, would normally be discarded and put them in a water tank on the boat that will simulate normal living conditions for the bivalves at the bottom of the ocean. The students will collect data of the survival rate, he said.

The current stock assessment for sea scallops, said Rudders, assumes that 20 percent of all animals discarded will die. Rudders said he believes that discard mortality rate “is in the ballpark.”

However, a new study is needed, he said, because the estimate is based on two older studies, and the strategies for catching scallops has changed since those were completed.

“The findings from this study will contribute to better management of this incredibly valuable resource, and help invigorate the scallop fishery here in Maine,” he said.

This type of research is very important, said Sulikowski, noting that research he conducted regarding the discard mortality for skates had a significant impact on that fishery. The government had estimated the discard mortality rate for skates to be 50 percent, but Sulikowski’s findings showed it was only 15 percent. As a result, NOAA increased the amount of skate that fishermen could land from 31 million to 48 million pounds, which increased revenues from that fishery by $6 million.

This type of research is not only important to the fishing industry, said Sulikowski, learning to conduct such studies is also important to UNE students.

While many students and community members have lamented the closure of UNE’s Marine Animal Rehabilitation and Conservation program, which was run through the Department of Marine Science, Sulikowski said he thinks ending that program was the right decision.

“We want our students to be successful when they get out of here,” he said.

Studying sustainable fisheries, such as the research project he is working on, provides greater opportunities for students, said Sulikowski.

“That’s where the jobs are.”

He noted that seals are not a threatened or endangered species.

“There are a lot of other fisheries that need our help,” said Sulikowski.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].