Federal funding for Maine Sea Grant has been restored.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informed the University of Maine on Monday that it was reinstating all $4.5 million in federal funding it had previously cut from Maine Sea Grant. The 20-person program provides technical and research support to the state’s fisheries and coastal economies.

“The groundswell of support for Maine Sea Grant and the stories that have surfaced about its incredible impact on our state’s working waterfronts have been extraordinary and effective,” UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said in a prepared statement Friday.

Begun in 1971, Maine Sea Grant conducts coastal workforce and business development, marine science education and outreach, fisheries management research, and provides technical assistance to help working waterfronts prepare for storms, sea level rise and climate change.

In 2023, Maine Sea Grant estimated its programs helped generate $23.5 million for the state economy.

NOAA did not respond Friday to emails or phone calls asking why it had reversed its earlier decision.

NOAA’s decision to terminate funding for Maine Sea Grant drew criticism from Maine’s elected leaders and the fishermen that rely on the program. Maine’s program was the only one of the 34 sea grant programs nationwide to be affected.

In its termination letter, a NOAA grants supervisor said Maine Sea Grant was “no longer relevant to the focus of the administration’s priorities and program objectives.” It was the first of many cost-cutting orders implemented at NOAA, including deep cuts to the National Weather Service.

But the termination also came about a week after President Donald Trump threatened to cut all federal funding to Maine after clashing with Gov. Janet Mills over an executive order banning transgender student athletes from participating in women’s sports.

After facing intense criticism for the cut, NOAA announced in early March that it would release unspent funds from the first year of the original four-year award and renegotiate the remaining three years of funding. The renegotiated award announced this week mirrors the original four-year agreement.

Although the total funding remains the same, it is unclear if Maine Sea Grant will have to change its work or its focus to fall in line with the Trump administration’s priorities. NOAA staff have been told to search existing grants for terms like “climate science” when evaluating which programs should be cut.

Ferrini-Mundy thanked Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, for her “relentless advocacy” for Maine Sea Grant.

“I am thrilled that Maine Sea Grant has received its full funding so that the important work they do to conduct research, support a robust pipeline of skilled labor, and enrich our coastal economies can continue unimpeded,” Collins said in a prepared statement.

All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation have rallied to support the program’s work. Sen. Angus King, an independent, and Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, also criticized the Trump administration for targeting a university program that has nothing to do with transgender student athletes.

Program supporters like the Maine Lobstermen’s Association expressed relief about the funding reversal.

“Maine Sea Grant has long been an important partner in supporting our coastal communities and sustainable fisheries,” said MLA executive director Patrice McCarron. “Continued funding will support initiatives that benefit not only the lobstering community but all of Maine’s coastal economy.”

Maine Sea Grant has been supporting Ready Seafood since it started as a small lobster company on Hobson’s Pier in Portland in 2004, said Curt Brown, a Cape Elizabeth lobsterman and biologist for Ready Seafood. Now Ready is the largest lobster processing company in the world.

“This vital funding for Maine Sea Grant is not a cost,” Brown said. “It is an investment in the future of Maine’s coastal industries and communities, an investment that has paid dividends for decades.”