The U.S. Department of Commerce has agreed to renegotiate funding for Maine’s Sea Grant program that President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly ended last week after Trump sparred with Gov. Janet Mills over the state’s transgender athlete policies.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will “renegotiate” the terms and conditions of the work to be performed by Maine Sea Grant “to ensure that it focuses on advancing Maine’s coastal economies, working waterfronts and sustainable fisheries,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday in a statement.
The Wednesday announcement followed a meeting involving Collins, the lone Republican in Maine’s congressional delegation, the director of Maine Sea Grant and other program advocates, after which Collins said she spoke with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 1st District, also sent Lutnick a letter earlier Tuesday demanding the Trump administration reverse its “ill-advised decision.”
The NOAA informed the University of Maine on Feb. 28 that it was immediately terminating the current $4.5 million four-year grant that was entering its second year. Though the national program has partnerships with higher-learning organizations in more than 30 states and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, Maine’s program was the only one in New England to lose funding and may have been the only one in the nation.
The termination notice came suddenly, with the NOAA only saying Maine’s program activities “are no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives.” But it also came days after Trump and Mills had a testy exchange during an event with other governors at the White House over Maine’s policies allowing transgender female athletes to compete in sports in alignment with their gender identity.
A memo from Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, who is currently performing the duties of the NOAA’s administrator and under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, said the negotiations will “ensure that the American people, including hardworking Mainers like lobstermen and fishermen, receive the benefit of the bargain consistent with the Administration’s priorities and continued relevance to program objectives.”
On Feb. 21, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine if it does not change the policy that the Maine Principals’ Association has had in place for several years. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Mills a letter last week threatening to take Maine to court, after Mills had said “see you in court” to Trump when he singled her out at the White House.
Maine Sea Grant Director Gayle Zydlewski thanked Collins in the Wednesday news release from the senator’s office for her “dedication to sustaining our fisheries, working waterfronts and local communities.”
Congress first established the Sea Grant program in 1966 and charged it with helping to maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy, according to the program’s website. Maine’s four-year agreement with NOAA, which funds Sea Grant programs, went into effect in February 2024 and was expected to continue through January 2028.
As of 2023, the program helped fund 20 positions in Maine that helped research and promote sustainable marine-related business practices, healthy coastal ecosystems, marine education and workforce development, according to UMaine officials.
BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed reporting.
