aquaculture

University of Maine to build new aquaculture center

Kaitlyn Budion

The University of Maine will open a new aquaculture center on the Orono campus that will offer training to students and the public.

An artistic rendering, provided by American Aquafarms, shows what a salmon processing site in the Gouldsboro village of Prospect Harbor might look like if it is redeveloped from its current use as a plant for cooking and packaging lobster.

Environment and Outdoors

New bill proposes limits on certain large-scale aquaculture farms

Nicole Ogrysko

The bill, first introduced by Sen. Nicole Grohoski, was motivated by the proposal from American Aquafarms, which wanted to build a massive salmon farm in Frenchman Bay.

Wire lobster traps sit stacked on a pier in Beals, Maine, as vehicles cross the Beals Island Bridge between Beals and Jonesport on Nov. 30, 2018. Linked by the bridge, which is being replaced with a new $10.5 million span, the lobster industry and a shared high school, residents of the two towns hope their rural fishing community will benefit from a proposed $110 million land-based aquaculture fish farm in Jonesport.

Environment and Outdoors

Jonesport residents reject aquaculture moratorium

Nicole Ogrysko

The vote may clear the way for Kingfish Maine to set up a land-based yellowtail fish farm in the town.

Business and Economy

Maine DEP abandons review of controversial Frenchman Bay salmon farm

Fred Bever

The Department of Environmental Protection is ending its consideration of the company's proposal for discharging project waste to the bay.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, photo, shellfish farmer Chad Campbell returns to the docks after visiting his aquaculture site in Georgetown, Maine. Campbell is among a group of shellfish farmers working to expand quahog farming in the state as an alternative to softshell clams. Environmental group Manomet is working with Maine shellfish farmers to grow more of the species of clam it thinks can better stand up to predators that have plagued the state's harvest of bivalves.

Environment and Outdoors

New report sets broad goals for Maine's aquaculture industry in the next decade

Fred Bever

In the last 8 years, Maine’s aquaculture harvest has more than doubled in volume and in value, and some predict that the state's aquaculture exports could be worth as much as $800 million by 2025.

A sign protesting a large salmon farm in Frenchman's Bay.

Environment and Outdoors

Gouldsboro voters temporarily block large fish farms, as salmon farm proposal looms

Fred Bever

Backed by Norway-based investors, the "American Aquafarms" project would rely on shoreside facilities in Gouldsboro for packing and shipping product and handling waste from at-sea fish pens.

Environment and Outdoors

Environmental Group Challenging Permit For Proposed Down East Fish Farm

Fred Bever

The local chapter of the Sierra Club is appealing a discharge permit granted by the Department of Environmental Protection to Kingfish Maine, which plans to grow up to 8,000 metric tons of yellowtail a year in a land-based facility in Jonesport.

Business and Economy

DMR Gives Initial OK To Oyster Farm Expansion, Despite Concerns From Landowners, Lobstermen

Fred Bever

Maine's Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is giving an initial thumbs up to a controversial oyster farm proposed for Brunswick's Maquoit Bay.The draft…

Business and Economy

Aquaculture, Lobstering Tussle Headed To Maine State House

PORTLAND, Maine - A proposed change to the law in Maine would make it more difficult to establish aquaculture operations at a time when the state's fish…

Environment and Outdoors

Aquaponics Could Be Key In Extending Maine's Growing Season

Maine’s growing season is relatively short, but a group of young farmers has found a way to extend the season with the help of some unlikely farm-hands —…