AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Seafood is a big part of Maine's culture and history, and the state wants home cooks to use more of it during the coronavirus pandemic.

That's the focus of a branding and promotion initiative the Maine Department of Marine Resources is launching. The effort will use $1 million in federal coronavirus aid to help consumers discover and use more Maine seafood, said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

Retail seafood sales are up 35% compared to this time last year, the marine resources department said. However, the seafood industry is also heavily reliant on restaurant sales, which have cratered since the pandemic started.

Keliher said the goal of the promotion is to show that “consumers can trust that their seafood products, from shellfish to seaweed and halibut to haddock will be the highest quality, best tasting seafood on earth.”

In other Maine virus news:

THE NUMBERS

The latest average positivity rate in Maine is 3.41%. State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Maine the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.

The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 2.09% on Nov. 24 to 3.41% on Dec. 8.

Public health authorities in Maine have reported more than 14,400 cases of the virus in the state since the start of the pandemic. They've also reported 246 deaths.

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UMAINE SPORTS

The University of Maine's winter athletics schedule is set to resume.

The UMaine Black Bears athletics programs are the only NCAA Division 1 programs in the state in sports including basketball and ice hockey. The winter sports seasons will resume with a women's basketball game at Providence College on Thursday, the university said in a statement.

UMaine men's ice hockey games scheduled against rival University of New Hampshire have been moved to Durham, New Hampshire, for Friday and Saturday. The university said in a statement that it “continues to monitor developments with the pandemic closely and assess opportunities to host home games in adherence with University of Maine System and public health guidance.”