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Business
Posted November 7, 2021
Updated November 8, 2021
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OPPORTUNITY, CONTROVERSY GROW FOR MAINE’S AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY
Many see seafood farming as a vital practice to feed the world, but others take
issue with its environmental impacts.
By Hannah LaClaireStaff Writer
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* 207-504-8238
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BAR HARBOR, ME - AUGUST 26: Joanna Fogg, co-owner of Bar Harbor Oyster Company,
motors out to the Mount Desert Narrows on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. (Davis/Staff
Photographer) Derek Davis
Joanna Fogg, perched at the prow of her boat, looks out at the 350 oyster cages
rocking in the Mount Desert Narrows that make up the bulk of Bar Harbor Oyster
Co., the business that she and her husband, Jesse, have spent the past seven
years building from the ground up.
The black plastic floats, spread across about 22 acres, may not look like much
to some – and may even be an eyesore to others – but Fogg hopes that one day,
people will see them as beautiful.
Her farm may not conjure the same quintessential working waterfront images as a
lobster boat and brightly colored buoy, Fogg said, but she thinks it should hold
the same meaning: “This is what it looks like to feed people.”
And feed people she does.
Even with a projected harvest of about 100,000 oysters this year, Fogg can’t
keep up with the demand of Bar Harbor, let alone a state that is rapidly growing
its brand as a premier destination for farm-grown seafood.
Fogg’s business is just one of the hundreds of Maine sea farms contributing to
the state’s successful aquaculture industry, selling oysters, mussels, seaweed
and salmon as fast as they can be grown. The practice has been around for
thousands of years, but only in the past few has it become a vital economic
engine for the state.
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But as more farms have cropped up, so have coalitions and interest groups
concerned about Maine’s coastline being overrun by industrial-size operations
that pollute the state’s pristine waters and take valuable bottom from Maine’s
iconic, nearly half-billion-dollar lobster industry.
In 2019, the last year of “normal” harvest and value data before the pandemic,
Maine’s aquaculture industry had an estimated direct economic impact of $88.4
million and employed an estimated 622 employees – a nearly 15 percent increase
in value over three years, according to data from the 2016 Maine Aquaculture
Economic Impact Report from the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research
Institute.
Jesse Fogg, co-owner of Bar Harbor Oyster Company, drops a cage into the water
at the Mount Desert Island Narrows in August. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
By next year, the industry is expected to employ around 880 workers across
production and over 1,600 across the supply chain. By 2030, employment is
projected to exceed 1,000 direct workers and over 2,000 across the supply
chain.
Maine characterizes its lease sites in three ways. Experimental leases are
smaller in size (up to 4 acres) and shorter in duration (up to three years), and
cannot be renewed unless they are for scientific purposes, while “standard”
leases are larger (up to 100 acres), longer in duration (up to 20 years), and
can be renewed, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Limited
purpose aquaculture sites, or LPAs, are only one year in duration but can be
renewed at the end of each year.
There are about 178 active aquaculture leases, 46 leases under review and 762
small LPA sites in Maine, according to data from the Department of Marine
Resources.
As technology advances and its popularity grows, it seems like the sky’s the
limit for what is, despite its ancient roots, a relatively young industry. But
not everyone in Maine is sold on aquaculture.
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AQUACULTURE IN MAINE
At its core, “aquaculture” simply refers to growing plants or animals in water,
whether the farm is located on land or in salt or fresh water, according to
Sebastian Belle, director of the Maine Aquaculture Association.
The practice is thought to have started with carp farming in China as far back
as 2000 B.C., according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, but it didn’t gain worldwide traction until much later, between 1700
and 1900 A.D.
However, aquaculture as it is practiced today didn’t get underway until around
1970, when farmers began to work with more species.
Today, Maine grows about 24 species, but Belle said the “big three” are salmon,
oysters and mussels, with salmon capturing more of the gross revenue but oysters
holding more lease sites.
Beyond food, aquaculture also produces sport fish, baitfish, ornamental or
aquarium fish, sea vegetables, research animals and fish eggs, and can be used
in stock restoration, in which hatchery fish and shellfish are released into the
wild to help rebuild wild populations or coastal habitats such as oyster reefs.
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The aquaculture sector in Maine has been growing by roughly 2 percent per year
for the past decade, and Belle expects that growth rate to increase – possibly
even double – in the next few years.
Aquaculture first really hit Maine in the 1970s or ’80s, Belle said, growing
from virtually no acres of farms to about 600 and then reaching a plateau for
about 15 years. Over the past few decades, it has increased to nearly 1700 acres
of farmed ocean, and if recent years are any indication, that number will just
keep going up.
“We cannot land enough, we cannot grow enough because the Maine brand is so
well-respected,” Belle said.
There is an increased demand, particularly among young people, for healthy,
locally grown, sustainable protein, he said.
“The demand is insane,” Belle said, noting that seafood saw a 25 percent to 35
percent boost in customer sales during the pandemic, when people were no longer
able to eat out at restaurants. “If we can hold that, the demand will be even
stronger.”
Joanna Fogg, co-owner of Bar Harbor Oyster Company, samples oysters at the Mount
Desert Narrows, where she farms with her husband Jesse. Derek Davis/Staff
Photographer
Gov. Janet Mills also has noted the increase in demand.
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In her 10-year economic development plan, Mills includes the importance of
pursuing sustainable fishing opportunities such as aquaculture “to complement
traditional fishing and meet the growing demand for a traceable food supply that
is changing the way we fish and farm.”
EXPANSION BREEDS CONTROVERSY
As the industry grows in Maine, so do the chances of it generating controversy.
Large-scale aquaculture farms, particularly in-water finfish farms, have been
criticized for years because of their high risks for ocean pollution from
nutrient and effluent buildup, possible negative impacts on the wild fish
population and the potential impact on the fish themselves (and therefore
consumers) from crowding, antibiotics and disease.
Bivalve aquaculture (mussels, oysters and scallops) and kelp or marine algae
farming are considered more environmentally beneficial, because they don’t
require fresh water or fertilizers, don’t need to be fed, and, in the case of
bivalves, filter the water.
However, according to Belle, while salmon used to be the Big Bad Wolf of
aquaculture, raising the most opposition, that is no longer the case.
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In 2018, a proposed 40-acre lease for Mere Point Oyster Co. on Brunswick’s
Maquoit Bay spurred over a year of debate, hours of hearings and at least one
lawsuit. Opponents spoke out about conflicting uses of the bay, unknown but
potentially negative environmental impacts and the potential infringement on
valuable lobstering grounds.
Belle doesn’t buy it.
“Most times, the objections come from people who don’t want to look at, hear or
smell a commercial working waterfront,” he said. “(But since) there is no way
under the existing system for somebody to object to the impacts on viewscape …
they’re hiring well-paid public relations consultants and enlisting the
commercial fishing community.”
The lease, whittled down to 28 acres by owners Doug Niven and Dan Devereaux, was
ultimately approved in 2019, but the opponents aren’t giving up their fight
against large-scale aquaculture.
One group, previously known as Save Maquoit Bay and now known as the Protect
Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, has been particularly vocal about its
concerns over what it’s called “industrial aquaculture” – large leases
(especially those over 30 acres) owned by out-of-state or international
companies striving to maximize profits at the expense of the ocean.
According to executive director Crystal Canney, the state’s regulations, which
she believes are too relaxed, “have set the table for industrial aquaculture.”
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A single person can lease up to 1,000 acres of the ocean (100 acres per lease
for up to 10 leases) for 100 years and can transfer the lease without a public
hearing, she noted, and with a 95 percent lease approval rate, she worries Maine
is setting itself up for failure.
The group’s current battle is against a proposed 110-acre penned salmon fishery
in Frenchman Bay.
Backed by Norwegian investor Mikael Roenes, the American Aquafarms proposal
includes 30 150-foot salmon pens that would eventually produce about 30,000
metric tons, or 66 million pounds, of fish. The project would be on two sites,
one encompassing 56 acres and the other taking up 60 acres.
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage, along with Frenchman Bay United, an umbrella
organization of five different groups opposing the plan, worry that the farm
will overtake valuable lobstering grounds while polluting the pristine waters.
Fish pens owned by Cooke Aquaculture Inc. at Cobscook Bay’s Broad Cove in
Eastport on Aug. 27. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
A die-off of over 100,000 salmon at a Cooke Aquaculture site in August has
prompted more opposition and questions surrounding the proposal.
Cooke Aquaculture is currently the only salmon farming operation in the state
and has over 600 acres of lease sites along the coast.
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Protect Maine and Frenchman Bay United said in a news release in September that
the die-off is “just another example of how industrial-scale in-water fish farms
threaten the environmental and economic health of coastal areas.”
“At every turn, industrial-scale aquaculture is given the benefit of the doubt,
whereas lobstermen and fishermen have their feet held to the fire,” Canney said
in the release. “We need evidence that Maine’s oversight agencies are putting
the health of our waters first, and not turning a blind eye to industrial-scale
aquaculture damaging our oceans.
A NEED FOR MORE PLANNING
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage has called for a statewide conversation with
regulators and stakeholders to create a plan for the future of aquaculture
growth in Maine. They’re pushing for lease size and length limits and a hearing
for lease transfers, among other changes.
“The state hasn’t done its homework,” Canney said. “Leases are exploding and
(the state is approving them) willy-nilly because the governor has a 10-year
strategic plan that promotes aquaculture at any cost.”
The group says it isn’t against all aquaculture in Maine.
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In fact, the small, owner-operated model, especially for farms under 10 or 20
acres, is one the group supports, Canney said. However, she said the more acres
a site takes up, the more lobstering grounds are lost, the more other uses for
the area disappear and the more risks there are for the environment.
“I do not think that getting greedy and having hundreds of acres is something
that’s good for Maine,” Canney said.
Fogg, of Bar Harbor Oyster, has a different mindset.
“I was definitely in the school of thought originally that small, owner-operated
is always the best way to go,” she said. “(But) the longer I’m involved in it,
the more I understand that big isn’t always bad and that big is relative. I want
to be big enough that I can afford a couple of year-round employees who maybe
get benefits. Realistically, two of these oyster strings and one boat is not
going to do that. It’s not even going to afford us health insurance.”
Alex de Köning of Hollander & de Köning, a family-owned mussel farming operation
in Trenton, stands inside a company facility on Aug. 27. Derek Davis/Staff
Photographer
Alex de Köning, one of the owners of Acadia Aquafarms, the state’s largest
mussel grower, said the state’s regulatory process is thorough enough as it is.
It takes years to get through the lease approval process, which can help weed
out the bad applications, he said. But that approval time, coupled with the few
years it takes to grow product to market size, also requires businesses to start
big.
To help minimize that time, sometimes growers will start out with LPAs to begin
growing a small operation and then expand. This can contribute to the impression
that aquaculture is exploding, de Köning said.
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According to Jeff Nichols, spokesperson for the Department of Marine Resources,
the number of new applications has more than tripled in the past five years,
going from 13 in 2015 to 42 in 2020. During that time, the number of new leases
issued per year increased at a similar rate, jumping from seven in 2015 to 20 in
in 2020. Total acreage leased in the state increased by about 300 acres during
that five-year span.
However, Nichols said, “It’s important to note that the total footprint of
leases remains relatively low at approximately 1,600 acres statewide, compared
to the 3.5 million acres of total state waters.”
That’s because the LPA sites are small, designed for people just starting out or
who only want to operate on a very small scale.
Overall, the number of active leases per year has remained fairly constant,
Nichols added.
EASTPORT, ME – AUGUST 27: A fish breaks the surface of the water in one of the
farming pens at Cobscook Bay’s Broad Cove in August. Derek Davis/Staff
Photographer
A GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY
Aquaculture is growing even faster globally than it is in Maine.
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According to a 2020 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
report on the state of the world’s fisheries and aquaculture, global aquaculture
production rose 527 percent between 1990 and 2018, compared with a 14 percent
increase in wild catch fisheries’ production in the same period.
Aquaculture production is projected to reach 109 million tons in 2030, a 32
percent increase from 2018.
According to the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute’s economic
impact report, the majority (62 percent) of food fish will be produced by
aquaculture by 2030.
The United States is the third-largest market for seafood but ranks 15th in
aquaculture production. Asian markets have so far dominated the space, with an
89 percent share over the past 2o years, according to the United Nations.
Seafood is the most valuable traded food commodity, and the United States
imports over 90 percent of its seafood.
Some enterprising Mainers hope to see that start to change, and according to
Belle, the state is uniquely positioned to make that happen.
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“We have amazing environmental conditions,” he said. “We have very clean water,
a lot of coastline and we still have a working waterfront … We have a long
tradition in Maine of going down to the water to make a living, (and) there are
a lot of people who are experimenting with it to diversify their income base.”
Factor in organizations such as the Aquaculture Research Institute, Bigelow
Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, UMaine’s Darling Marine Center, the Gulf of Maine
Research Institute, the Downeast Institute and others, and Maine has the best
research infrastructure for cold-water aquaculture in America, he said.
With a clean and extensive coastline and ample opportunity for research, Maine
colleges and industry partners are now preparing the workforce that will be
needed to meet the demand.
Aquaculture is multidisciplinary, Belle said, and employers are looking for
workers with skills ranging from a good handle on math and science to
traditional husbandry and farming practices.
Last month, the Maine Aquaculture Association released a new set of occupational
standards for the industry – the first of its kind to set the training needs and
standards for the industry – for use in new aquaculture training programs in
several college programs throughout the state.
Belle expects that these training programs will attract people from other states
and countries, putting “Maine on the map for being a center for excellence.”
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Last year, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute also launched an online portal,
“The Maine Aquaculturist,” a centralized resource hub to help aquaculture
farmers start or maintain their operations.
Jesse Fogg, co-owner of Bar Harbor Oyster Co., rescues his daughter Ionna’s hat
after she lost it in the water at their oyster farm in the Mount Desert Narrows
of Bar Harbor on Aug. 26. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW SPECIES
According to the Department of Marine Resources, in Maine there are 21 active
lease sites for salmon – all owned by Cooke Aquaculture, 36 lease sites for
mussels and 93 for oysters. Several businesses, such as Cooke, are licensed on
multiple sites for multiple species.
In 2019, Maine aquaculturists harvested about 2.3 million pounds of mussels,
valued at just over $4 million, and 13.9 million pounds of oysters, valued at
about $9.7 million. Data for salmon was not immediately available.
The “big three” are aquaculture’s main breadwinners, but many aquaculturists are
experimenting with new and emerging techniques to farm species – such as
seaweed, eels and scallops – that they believe have enough market potential to
disrupt that hierarchy.
For example, seaweed aquaculture, which didn’t exist in Maine (or the United
States) until 2009, harvested just 14,500 pounds in 2015, according to data from
the Department of Marine Resources. An estimated value was not available.
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By 2018, that figure had increased to 53,500 pounds, valued at $37,897.
Just two years later, in 2020, Maine harvested over 497,000 pounds, valued at
$301,285.
Briana Warner, president and CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, the state’s first kelp
farm and now its largest seaweed supplier and processor, expects that number to
double next year.
That’s “not even a blip” compared with what the market can do, Warner said. The
United States imports 98 percent of its seaweed, the majority of which is
produced in Asia and generally arrives dehydrated for sushi.
Bar Harbor Oyster Company’s cages span the Mount Desert Narrows in August. Derek
Davis/Staff Photographer
The company now partners with about two dozen fishermen and women up and down
the Maine coast. Atlantic Sea Farms gets the seeds started in its nursery and
gives the seedlings to fishermen, primarily lobster fishermen, to grow on lines
in the offseason.
Fishermen then harvest the seaweed, using the same equipment needed for
lobstering, and sell the harvested seaweed back to Atlantic Sea Farms, which
produces kelp-based products for sale online, in grocery stores and for use by
some restaurant chains.
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The goal, Warner said, is for kelp farming to become a viable, environmentally
friendly supplemental – or one day even primary – income source for Maine
fishermen, especially as the looming threat of climate change casts a shadow
over the Maine lobster industry.
“We are completely dependent on lobster monoculture,” she said. “There are few
diversification opportunities on the water. … Without diversification, we are
uniquely vulnerable in a way we’ve never been before.”
Warner isn’t the only one who sees potential in an aquaculture segment
traditionally dominated by Asian farms.
Earlier this year, American Unagi, an eel aquaculture company, started
construction on a $10 million, 27,000-square-foot facility in Waldoboro.
The new building will expand the company’s production to over 500,000 pounds, or
about 5 percent of the U.S. eel market, according to owner Sara Rademaker.
Maine is one of two states that harvest glass eels, also known as elvers, as
they find their way to rivers from their ocean spawning areas.
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Once the elvers are harvested, they’re usually shipped to Asian countries such
as Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea, where they are reared to adult size for the
food fish market. Many are then shipped back to the U.S. to be used in sushi.
Rademaker isn’t out to replace Maine’s elver fishery, which, in 2019, was the
state’s second-most valuable, with landings valued at $20.1 million for 9,750
pounds. Landings remained about the same in 2020, but took a substantial hit in
value because of the pandemic.
Instead, she works with the fishery, purchasing the toothpick-size, translucent
eels from the local harvesters, growing them to market size in American Unagi’s
land-based facility and then selling them to wholesalers or restaurants.
“As this aquaculture industry grows in Maine, we’re almost this hybrid,”
Rademaker said, calling it “a nice representation of how we can connect
aquaculture (to the wild harvest fishery) in a way that fits. … It made sense to
snap this onto the economy to help diversify something that Maine’s already
really good at.”
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