The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a nonprofit corporation established by the 2014 Farm Bill, has awarded Hugh Cowperthwaite of Coastal Enterprises Inc. a $300,000 matching research grant to investigate the economic viability of a Japanese scallop production technique that has been shown to grow scallops faster and produce larger meat yields.

CEI is an economic development group based in Brunswick. Its grant is one of four announced by FFAR Monday, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree’s office. The four grant awards total $1.5 million for research to improve economic opportunities for farmed fish, shellfish and marine invertebrate production and increase the supply of domestically produced, nutritious foods in the U.S.