Tag Archives: American Aquafarms
American Aquafarms appeals DMR lease application decision
American Aquafarms has appealed a recent decision by the Maine Department of Marine Resources to terminate two lease applications for a proposed salmon farm in Frenchman Bay. American Aquafarms (AAF) is asking the court to vacate the DMR’s decision and send the applications back to the department for continued consideration. The DMR, in a statement, said it stands behind its decision to terminate the lease applications. The reason for termination, according to the DMR, lies in the proposed egg stock that American Aquafarms had listed in its application. >click to read< 09:41
Notice of Lease Application Termination – American Aquafarms
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has terminated the applications of American Aquafarms after the company failed to fulfill its legal obligation to demonstrate an available source of fish to be cultivated at its proposed salmon farms in Frenchman Bay. The source of Atlantic salmon proposed by American Aquafarms, AquaBounty of Newfoundland, Canada, did not meet the criteria for a “Qualified Source/Hatchery” as defined in DMR regulations (Chapter 24). Additionally, American Aquafarms failed to provide documentation demonstrating that the proposed source of fish/eggs could meet genetic requirements in law (§6071(4)). No further action will be taken on these applications. >link< 16:24
FRENCHMAN BAY UNITED HAILS REJECTION OF AMERICAN AQUAFARMS APPLICATION – The coalition opposing the proposed industrial salmon farm says the fight will continue. “Commissioner Keliher made the right decision,” said Frenchman Bay United board president Henry Sharpe. “We hope that the company has finally gotten the message that they are not welcome here and that it’s time to pull the plug on this destructive and ill-conceived project once and for all.” >click to read<
Maine: Fishermen oppose large salmon farm
Alley, Backman, Briggs, Coombs, Dunbar, Faulkingham, Knowles, Perry, Torrey and Whalen are among the surnames of multi-generation fishing families on the Schoodic Peninsula, whose working fishermen and women signed a petition opposing American Aquafarms’ proposed salmon farm comprising two 15-pen sites in Frenchman Bay. The 100 petitioners’ “Statement of Opposition” to the project to raise 66 million fish annually in their historic fishing grounds was delivered last week to the Gouldsboro Select Board. “This is going to take away more of our lobster fishing ground,” 75-year-old South Gouldsboro fisherman Jerry Potter said. Potter has fished in Frenchman Bay throughout his working life. “We’re worried about disease. And I’m very concerned it would pollute the bay and destroy the bay’s entire ecosystem.” >click to read< 13:26
Local Group invites Salmon Farm Developer to Engage in “Real Community Conversation”
Prospect Harbor, Maine – A local citizens’ group today delivered a letter to American Aquafarms inviting the company to participate in an open meeting to hear area residents ’concerns about the company’s proposal to build a massive industrial salmon farm in Frenchman Bay next to Acadia National Park. In their letter, Friends of Schoodic Peninsula called out the company for pledging months ago to meet with area residents but instead releasing a video recently of CEO Keith Decker and project manager Tom Brennan being interviewed by the company’s lawyer and calling it a “community conversation.” >click to read< 12:14
Journalistic Failure: Calling them out for missing the real story
Your piece on American Aquafarms’ new propaganda videos reads like a company press release instead of a news story in a serious newspaper. For some reason the EA abandoned all journalistic principles and allowed American Aquafarms (which is neither American nor an operator of a single fish farm) to hype its massive, polluting, job-destroying fish farm scheme without any standard journalistic examination. There was no context, no questions, no investigation and no acknowledgement of the overwhelming grassroots opposition to the project. The “story” is such a lame love letter that it would be funny if the situation weren’t so tragic. By Jed West, Prospect Harbor >click to read< 10:31
4 years later, the 4 large fish farms planned for Maine haven’t started construction
This year will be remembered in Maine, at least in part, as when interest in developing four large-scale fish farms on the state’s eastern coastline continued to intensify. It also will be remembered by some as yet another year during which, nearly four years since plans for the first proposal were announced, none of the four separate projects began construction. The projects are at various stages of the permitting process, with some being fully approved and others not yet having any permits. All have shied away from announcing specific timetables for when they hope to start to build. Nordic Aquafarms, Kingfish Maine, American Aquafarms, and Whole Oceans, >click to read< 10:39
Frenchman Bay falsehoods
I am a lifelong fisherman of Frenchman Bay. I have fished the bay for over 50 years. I am familiar with the huge tides and winds that frequently occur here. American Aquafarms wants to put a 120-acre salmon farm in Frenchman Bay. American Aquafarms CEO Keith Decker says the company’s proposed 30 salmon pens will not affect those of us who fish in the bay. That shows either how little he knows, or wants to know, about the bay. Hard to tell. >click to read< By Jerry Potter, South Gouldsboro. Maine. To read more on American Aquafarms, >click here< 14:16
Overwhelming Majority Approve 6 Month Moratorium in Gouldsboro on Large Finfish Aquaculture Proposals
The moratorium gives the Planning Board time to shore up its ordinances to address projects as large as the 120-acre salmon farm proposed by American Aquafarms, which is largely made up of Norwegian investors. Veteran lobster fisherman Jerry Potter said that although this vote does not kill the project, it does send a strong message to the company that the majority of residents do not back the salmon farm project. American Aquafarms has said it needs the support of the community. “I have been opposed to this project since the first time I heard about it,” said Potter, 75, who has been fishing in Frenchman Bay since he was a teenager. >click to read< 11:59
Gouldsboro Special Town Meeting on instituting a moratorium halting all major finfish aquaculture projects
What: Gouldsboro Special Town Meeting on instituting a moratorium halting all major finfish aquaculture projects until related ordinances can be updated. Why: American Aquafarms is proposing to build a 120-acre salmon farm in Frenchman Bay and a hatchery, processing plant and sludge handling operation in the village of Prospect Harbor. When: Monday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m. Where: Gouldsboro Rec Center, Pond Road. Contact: Jacqueline Weaver, Friends of Schoodic Peninsula, 207-546-0826 14:33
DEP officials hear opposition to salmon farm – “I am still shocked that we are talking about it”
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s will and capacity to adequately appraise American Aquafarms’ proposed plan to discharge a combined 4.1 billion gallons of diluted wastewater daily from both the Norwegian-backed company’s two 15-pen sites in Frenchman Bay were questioned during a 2.5-hour public meeting held online by the state agency Thursday night. The scientific studies and analysis underlying the industrial-scale project also were disputed and independent scientific data, which paints a different picture, submitted. “It’s just a big accident waiting to happen. I am still shocked that we are talking about it,” >click to read< 09:36
Proposed Industrial Salmon Farm near Acadia an Environmental and Economic Disaster for Maine
Frenchman Bay United, the coalition leading the opposition to a proposal by Norwegian investors to build a massive salmon in Frenchman Bay next to Acadia National Park, today submitted extensive and detailed comments on the wastewater discharge applications now under consideration by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “This project will be an environmental and economic disaster for Maine,” said Henry Sharpe, president of the group. “Thirty huge salmon pens will pump 4.1 billion gallons of untreated effluent into some of the most pristine waters on the Maine coast, and information submitted by the company about its wastewater discharge is grossly inaccurate and misleading.” >click to read< 17:56
Maine: Two More Towns Join Fight Against Industrial Salmon Farm Near Acadia
“Momentum continues to build against this inappropriate and destructive project, and we expect more towns and local groups to join the opposition in the weeks ahead,” said Kathleen Rybarz, president of Friends of Frenchman Bay and member of Frenchman Bay United, a coalition of organizations and individuals that is leading the fight against salmon farm. “People in the communities around Frenchman Bay and Acadia National Park understand clearly that this project threatens local jobs in fishing and tourism as well as the natural environment and their quality of life.” “This is no place for 30 massive salmon pens, using unproven technology and pumping 4.1 billion gallons of effluent into the bay each day,,, >click to read< 13:48
American Aquafarms salmon farm anxious to explain its vision. pssst, Eirik. No one wants it.
Officials representing a controversial salmon farm proposed for Frenchman Bay hope to meet with the public in the coming weeks to explain their vision amid vocal and visible opposition. Ten days ago, a flotilla of boats showed their opposition to the project in the water surrounding Acadia National Park. Company vice president Eirik Jors said American Aquafarms wants to open a U.S. location to help meet the growing demand for salmon. “The U.S. imports about 90% of its seafood,”,,, Save it, Eirik. National Park Service blasted the proposal in July., Other groups, including Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage and Frenchman Bay United, are worried about the loss of fishing grounds for lobstermen and others. James West, a fourth-generation fisherman from Sorrento, said the lease site is too big and he’s worried about impacts on lobsters and fish. >click to read< 15:39
If the Frenchman Bay salmon farm isn’t right for Norway, it’s not right for Maine
About that American Aquafarms proposal: NIMBY- not in my backyard. In this case it applies to the developer, not the opponents. Whenever I describe to people the location of this industrial development in Frenchman Bay, their first reaction is always the same: What were they thinking? How could they possibly do this? The short answer is, the developers came here to do what they couldn’t do back home in Norway. They couldn’t build this project in their own backyard, so they are trying to put it in our front yard,, We’re better than this, and it’s time we stand up for all that is special about the Maine coast and say no. Not here. Not now. Not ever. >click to read< By Jerry Potter 10:55
Lobstermen are opposed to this. Stopping American Aquafarms is your fight, too
The project will include 30 in-water fish pens, 150 feet in diameter; dozens of generators to power pumps and lights day and night; barges for feed and waste, and vessels ranging in size from 50 to 150 feet to process the fish and haul fish waste, fish food and thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. The threat to the bay’s waters and ecosystem from water pollution, fish escapes and disease is alarmingly real. Lobstermen who have fished these waters for generations also are opposed to this project. All 26 lobstermen who fish out of Bar Harbor presented a statement of opposition to the Town Council recently, and fishermen from around the bay are following suit. By Dennis Damon, >click to read< 11:19
Maine: Residents rise up against industrial scale aquaculture
American Aquafarms intends to “establish a hatchery, fish farm facilities, and a state-of-the-art processing plant in coastal Maine,” according to its website. “There are so many things wrong with this project,” said Sarah Redmond, a local oyster farmer. “Nobody around here thinks this is a good idea.” The fight over the farms is emblematic of the national debate over how to expand aquaculture in the United States. “I see a storm on the horizon for lobstermen and the future of this industry,” wrote Maine State Rep. Robert Alley in a recent op-ed,,, >click to read< 09:24
Frenchman Bay United has sent a letter to Interior Secretary Haaland around the proposed project in Frenchman Bay – Opponents of industrial salmon farm near Acadia National Park urge Interior Secretary Haaland to oppose project following her recent visit to Maine, >click to read<,To the The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary Department of the Interior >click to read<
“No Industrial Scale Fish Factory in Frenchman Bay” – American Aquafarms reps, critics take sides
Longtime South Gouldsboro lobsterman Frank Hammond has fished for decades in “The Hop,” an area northwest of Long Porcupine Island, where one of American Aquafarms’ sites would be located. He estimates about 15 to 20 lobstermen fish there from South Gouldsboro, Hancock, Sorrento and Lamoine. “I am dead against it. There is nothing to gain from this,” Hammond said at Saturday’s event. “The fishermen will never go for it if they’re going raise the fish in The Hop.” Another South Gouldsboro lobsterman, Jerry Potter, echoed Hammond. >click to read< 08:34
Proposed salmon farm highlights competing visions – Groups Oppose Industrial Aquaculture in Frenchman Bay
American Aquafarms wants to put 30 salmon pens in Frenchman Bay at the foot of Acadia National Park While the company said the proposed aquafarm will be good for Maine, people who currently make their living on the water aren’t convinced, and oppose the project. “These are the wrong people with the wrong project and the wrong technology in absolutely the wrong place,” >video, click to read< – Groups Oppose Applications for Industrial Aquaculture Leases at the foot of Acadia National Park in Frenchman Bay – The pens in Frenchman Bay would grow 66 million pounds of farmed raised salmon and compete with lobstermen who have also expressed their concerns. Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation Executive Director Crystal Canney said, “There are many things wrong with this project, especially as it relates to the deleterious effects it may have on the environment. On a statewide level, these conflicts continue to grow. PMFHF has heard from more than 30 lobstermen who fish in Frenchman Bay. They are concerned about the loss of bottom but also concerned that the rules and regulations at the Department of Marine Resources are risking the livelihood of a $1.6 billion industry.” >click to read< 14:53
Proposed Frenchman Bay salmon farm plan prompts call for review of state licensing rules
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage is calling for the Maine Department of Marine Resources to not only reject an as-of-yet unfiled proposal for a roughly 110-acre penned salmon fishery, but also revise the rules governing how such projects get approved. The group argues that without proper regulatory constraints, the state’s fast-growing aquaculture industry could disrupt traditional fishing activity and overtake the coast with large, 
industrial fish farm operations. In October, American Aquafarms entered into an agreement to purchase the Maine Fair Trade Lobster facility in Gouldsboro, where it plans to develop its hatchery and processing facilities, officials said in a news release. Backed by Norwegian investor Mikael Roenes, the American Aquafarms proposal includes 30 150-foot salmon pens,,, >click to read< 17:37
