Various groups from inside and outside Maine have formed a new coalition that’s working to promote the state’s aquaculture industry and counter what it says is misinformation that’s being spread about it.
The Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition announced its launch on Thursday, declaring that it’s working to tell the true story of aquaculture in the state. Its membership includes the Maine Aquaculture Association, the World Wildlife Federation, the Island Institute and two economic development groups: FocusMaine and Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
The group’s formation marks another step in an ongoing debate about how much of a role aquaculture businesses should have on Maine’s coast. It comes after another group that formed in recent years, Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage, has been urging Maine communities to restrict big seafood farms.
“Despite its importance to Maine’s economy, working waterfronts, and fishing communities, aquaculture has become the target of organized opponents who often use fear and misinformation to hinder the industry,” the coalition said in a press release.
The coalition doesn’t name the opposition, but some of its members have previously spoken out against Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage opposition to state-issued aquaculture leases for operations more than five acres in size. That foundation has been visiting coastal towns for several years, asking them to adopt aquaculture ordinances through Maine’s home rule laws, even though the state disputes the ability of municipalities to enforce those rules.
Among the foundation’s concerns are the impacts of seafood farms on the environment and the ability of vessels to navigate the waters where they are operating, along with their commercialization of the coast.
Aquaculture advocates have accused the group of fearmongering and argued that farming seafood is a way to provide opportunities for working sustainably on the water in the face of climate change and challenges facing traditional fisheries.
The fact that some business groups have joined the new coalition points to the economic potential that they see in the growing aquaculture trade.
According to the Maine Aquaculture Association, the annual value of oysters, mussels, scallops and fin fish farmed in Maine has grown from $50 million in 2007 to over $137 million. The industry employs more than 700 people full-time at nearly 200 farms along the coast, 99 percent of which are family-owned, the association says.
Sales of its products have reached $110 million annually and the industry is growing about two percent each year, according to the association.
In promotional materials, the new coalition also touted the strictness of state regulations on aquaculture operations.
The coalition said all of the state’s sea farms combined could fit into Rockland Harbor. By state law, these leases can’t be larger than 100 acres, are limited to 20 years in length and can be revoked by the state.
The coalition also argued that Maine’s regulations are used as a model by other states and countries, and it said that “industrial scale” aquaculture is not permitted in Maine, a phrase used by Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage in its efforts to win over coastal towns.