Saving Seafood

Frenchman Bay salmon farm developer sues Maine for spiking its lease application

May 31, 2022 — The company behind a controversial plan to build an industrial-scale salmon farm in Frenchman Bay is taking its case to court after the Maine Department of Marine Resources terminated its lease application last month.

American Aquafarms filed a complaint against the state in Cumberland County Superior Court last week. The Portland company, funded by Norwegian investors, proposed raising 66 million pounds of Atlantic salmon annually at two closed, 15-pen sites in Frenchman Bay, between Bar Harbor and Gouldsboro, with each pen encompassing 60 acres. The company also proposed operating a fish processing plant in Gouldsboro.

In its complaint, American Aquafarms alleges that the department’s decision was not supported by evidence. It also claims that the department spoke with a third party without its knowledge just days before the decision, violating American Aquafarms’ right to due process.

The state’s marine regulatory body terminated the application April 19. There were two major issues with it, said Jeff Nichols, department spokesperson.

First, the company failed to find a proper source for its fish eggs, according to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the department. The hatchery listed in the application, AquaBounty in Newfoundland, is not on Maine’s list of qualified egg sources.

American Aquafarms also failed to show that the proposed hatchery satisfied genetic requirements mandated by state law, Keliher said.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Gouldsboro ordinance to focus on finfish

May 13, 2022 — The Planning Board is drafting an aquaculture ordinance to regulate only large-scale Atlantic salmon and other finfish-farming development on land.

The move comes after the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) charged that the town had overstepped its authority in a prior, broader draft regulating all forms of aquaculture on land and in the ocean.

Local seaweed and oyster farmers also voiced concerns that the initial proposed regulations could jeopardize their existing operations.

At their regular meeting Tuesday, May 3, Planning Board members unanimously agreed to limit the ordinance’s focus to finfish-related operations on land. A previous draft Aquaculture Licensing Ordinance would have applied to all aquaculture — whether raising softshell clams in nursery trays floating in a former lobster pound or growing seaweed in Frenchman Bay. That proposal contained sweeping standards and requirements from noise, parking and exterior lighting specifications to having an environmental impact statement study conducted.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

 

MAINE: American Aquafarms buys shuttered Gouldsboro seafood processing plant

May 3, 2022 — American Aquafarms has purchased a former sardine cannery in Gouldsboro, indicating the company will likely continue to pursue a salmon farm in Frenchman Bay after being dealt a major permitting setback last month.

The sale of the Maine Fair Trade Lobster plant from East Coast Seafood to American Aquafarms closed Friday, according to East Coast Seafood CEO Bob Blais. American Aquafarms has said that it plans to use the 11-acre property in the village of Prospect Harbor for a hatchery and processing facility.

Thomas Brennan, American Aquafarms director of project development, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. On Friday, he said knew the company was heading in the direction of a sale, but didn’t have a firm closing date.

“It’s going to happen,” Brennan said. “It’s just a question of when.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Troubled waters: A massive salmon farm off the coast of Maine is stalled

April 26, 2022 — The summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in the northeastern U.S. state of Maine offers sweeping, unobstructed views of Frenchman Bay. Surrounded by islands and rocky shorelines, the bay is known throughout Maine for recreation and resources. But new projects may lie over the horizon. American Aquafarms, backed by Norwegian investors, planned to build the largest salmon farm in North America here, just on the edge of Acadia National Park. And lobstermen, like Jerry Potter, say they feared that if the project went through, the pristine waters of Frenchman Bay would never be the same.

“It’s going to ruin the ecosystem of the bay and ruin all the resources … mussels, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, everything,” said Potter, 76, from the nearby town of Gouldsboro.

American Aquafarms first proposed the salmon farm in 2020, in hopes that they would produce 30 million metric tons of salmon each year. The farm would also curb the U.S. reliance on imported seafood, according to Tom Brennan, the director of project management at American Aquafarms. The US currently imports 70-85% of its seafood, about half of which is produced through aquaculture.

But the massive project is now indefinitely delayed. On April 19, 2022, state officials terminated American Aquafarm’s application, citing that American Aquafarms failed to provide documentation that the egg source proposed to stock the pens would meet state requirements. In Maine, genetically modified fish cannot be used to stock salmon pens, however American Aquafarms proposed to work with the company that created the first genetically modified Atlantic salmon.

Brennan is shocked by the decision, stating that the company also included eggs from the USDA as a backup plan in the proposal. That facility was established to provide eggs to salmon growers in Maine, he adds.

Read the full story at Mongabay

American Aquafarms expected to take a ‘pause’ to figure out future of salmon farm

April 22, 2022 — The future of one of the most controversial aquaculture proposals in Maine history remains uncertain after its application was cut short by state regulators this week.

An official at American Aquafarms said the Norwegian-backed company that wanted to grow Atlantic salmon in nets pens in Frenchman Bay would likely consider its options following the Department of Marine Resources’ termination of its lease applications.

“The DMR response is perplexing to say the least, and the way it has been communicated is a surprise,” Thomas Brennan, American Aquafarms’ director of project development, wrote in a brief email Thursday. “I expect the company owners are taking a pause to understand what this all means for the future.”

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said Wednesday it would no longer review the company’s application for two 60-acre leases off Gouldsboro because American Aquafarms had failed to select an approved salmon egg source.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

AMERICAN AQUAFARMS CEO: Aquaculture can play a big role in Maine’s economy and climate change response

March 23, 2021 — Maine is setting the stage with its response to climate change, the need for greater sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Aquaculture plays an important role in all three.

The United States imports about 90 percent of the fish eaten in the country. Those imports ship consumer dollars out of the country, while also having a direct impact on the environment from the transportation required to deliver the food.

With wild fisheries under pressure from overfishing and warming oceans, aquaculture provides an opportunity to produce food closer to the people who will eat it and in a controlled and sustainable way.

That’s why American Aquafarms has proposed a new aquaculture facility along the working waterfront in Gouldsboro with pens located in Frenchman Bay.

We believe that this project will produce salmon safely and sustainably, while helping to fight climate change and creating good jobs for Maine people.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Fishery group pans proposed salmon farm off Gouldsboro

January 21, 2021 — A Portland-based fishery group is expressing concerns about the proposed site and size of a salmon farm in waters off Gouldsboro.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation said the area proposed by American Aquafarms, in Frenchman’s Bay, is heavily fished by lobstermen.

American Aquafarms is an aquaculture startup backed by a Norwegian investor that has under contract the purchase of the 100,000-square-foot Maine Fair Trade Lobster processing facility in Gouldsboro. The company hopes to develop a salmon-farming operation there.

American Aquafarms was launched in Portland last year by Mikael Rones, CEO of Global AS, which is based in Trondheim, Norway. The proposal calls for building a salmon hatchery as well as farming and processing facilities on the site and operate closed deep-water pens for raising fish.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Opposition arises to American Aquafarms’ net-pen proposal in Maine

January 21, 2021 — An group of residents of the U.S. state of Maine have announced their opposition to an American Aquafarms proposal to grow up to 30,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon in closed net-pens located near the town of Gouldsboro.

American Aquafarms President and CEO Mikael Rones told SeafoodSource soon after the project’s announcement he chose Maine due to its natural resources and the aquaculture industry’s potential in the state. The company purchased an East Coast lobster facility in Gouldsboro, Maine, in October 2020, with plans to establish a hatchery, fish farm facilities, and a processing plant.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Shellfish lab proposed on Gouldsboro shore

June 22, 2020 — A town-owned parcel on Prospect Harbor’s eastern shore is the proposed site for a small shellfish resilience lab.

Baby clams would be raised in ocean-based nursery trays, brought ashore to overwinter in an indoor seawater tank at the facility and used to re-seed local flats come spring.

Endorsed by Gouldsboro selectmen last fall, the clam restoration project is a partnership between the town, Schoodic Institute and local schools. The proposed ¾-acre, shorefront parcel lies in a limited residential area and the lab’s proponents are proposing that the land be rezoned commercial fisheries/maritime to allow the clam cultivation.

The Planning Board will hold a related public hearing tentatively set for Tuesday, July 21, at the town office.

Pending the public hearing and the Planning Board’s consideration of the proposed amendment to the town’s shoreland zoning map, the zoning change could be put on the warrant for the annual Town Meeting, which has yet to be scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American