Tag Archives: fin fish farming

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

Move Over! Industrial aquaculture/aquafarming has Maine lobstermen and fishermen hot under the collar

High-profile privately funded ventures have lately been converging on this corner of the North Atlantic. Norwegian owned American Aquafarms wants to salmon in Frenchman Bay, and other large Canadian and Dutch finfish aquaculture companies are moving into the region. This bustle, though, has raised the hackles of lobstermen and women represented by grassroots Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation organization. They say large-scale aquaculture corporations are intent on “privatizing” the public ocean, in the process displacing locals who’ve fished these waters for years and endangering their livelihoods. They feel considerably less optimistic about the burst of interest in aquafarming in their local waters,,,>click to read< 09:07

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

Opposition grows to expanding fin fish farming

The Trump administration and the aquaculture industry said the order, which is being implemented now, represents common sense steps to ease the burden of rules on fish farmers. “They’re trying to somehow connect open-water aquaculture with the need for domestic food. But it just doesn’t make sense,” said Marianne Cufone, executive director of the Recirculating Farms Coalition,,, Some fishing groups have also come out in support of the order. Scot Mackey, director of government affairs for the Garden State Seafood Association, which advocates for fishermen as well as farmers, said the order “will help the industry weather the current crisis and come back stronger.” Neville Crabbe, spokesman for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, a conservation group, said the federal permitting process should be creating land-based aquaculture rather than fish farms in the ocean, let alone offshore. >click to read< 18:13