July 19, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has rejected a citizens petition that requested a moratorium on aquaculture leases of over 10 acres.
The petition was submitted March 20, with 189 signatures, by a group called Save Maquoit Bay. The petition was drawn up in response to an application by Mere Point Oyster Co. for a 40-acre lease in the bay, off Brunswick, in order to cultivate Eastern oysters, bay scallops and sea scallops.
Although the proposed moratorium targeted one project, it would have applied statewide.
In its decision, the department wrote that it doesn’t see a basis for a moratorium.
“The Legislature has limited the size of any single lease to no more than 100 acres,” the decision reads. “Leases of greater than 10 acres may be appropriate and suitable in some areas and for certain aquaculture activities, just as leases of less than 10 acres would be required in others. The department can adequately deal with the size of a lease requested under the current lease decision criteria.
“Lease applications greater than 10 acres have been found to meet the decision criteria and have been granted, and other lease sites have been reduced in size by the department’s lease decision where the proposed sites were found to be unreasonable. Further, a 10-acre limitation on lease size may have the unintended effect of causing applicants to apply for multiple leases, as opposed to one single lease of a size that is suitable to meet their needs.
“Without further justification, a moratorium on leases of greater than 10 acres is arbitrary, and the department will not implement such a moratorium.”