PORTLAND, Maine (AP)   The National Marine Fisheries Service is sending more than $6 million to nearly 30 marine conservation projects as part of its Species Recovery Grant Program.

The grants are designed to help marine species that face threats in the wild. Four of the awards are going to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which will do an assessment of how fishing impacts endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The Maine department is also getting grants designed to help the salmon population, which has been the focus of years of conservation efforts in the state.

Other grants include an award to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to help sturgeon in the state’s waters. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will work on response to stranded sea turtles.