PORTLAND — Three University of Maine research scientists will receive grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for projects related to the fishing industry.

Aquaculture professor Heather Hamlin will receive $249,516 for a project that seeks to determine if rising ocean temperature is a cause of the lobster population decline in southern New England.

Fisheries population professor Yong Chen will get $229,326 for a project about what times and areas cod and cusk are likely to be caught in lobster traps.

Marine science professor Paul Rawson and collaborators at the University of Maine at Machias and Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., will receive $373,088 to develop technology to produce mussel seed.

The university announced the grants on Thursday.