City councilors in South Portland, Maine are considering the benefits of bringing an aquaculture operation to the Portland Street Pier in Ferry Village to potentially help attract seafood farming businesses, a burgeoning market, into the area.
During a workshop on 11 July, council members discussed the prospect of building an aquaculture processing plant in the midst of Southern Maine, noting that the hypothetical facility could spur an “if you build it, they will come” scenario, according to Councilor Claude Morgan, as quoted by The Forecaster.
Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, spoke to councilors during the workshop about the implications aquaculture can have not only now, but on future generations as well: “We are currently facing some challenges in terms of the world’s food supply,” he said during the meeting.
“In our children’s generation, access to reasonably priced food is going to be dramatically different than it is today,” added Belle.
Maine is in a unique position to serve the domestic market, Belle told The Forecaster, what with the state growing its aquaculture industry by 8-10 percent in both gross revenues and employment per year over the past few years. As of now, more than 94 percent of all seafood is imported, indicating that domestic aquafarming business in the United States has room to expand, according to Belle.
The Portland Street Pier, where the aquaculture processing facility would be located if greenlit, sits between Sunset Marina and a Portland Pipe Line pier, and offers 15 slips for smaller commercial vessels.
“We have an underused pier, we have capacity, and if we do this right we can offer stability,” said Belle. “Plus, it’s a remarkable opportunity for us. We can fill this niche in an industry that is about to soar.”
“Our waterfront has been woefully underutilized for years,” Councilor Linda Cohen noted during the meeting. “It has so much potential in so many different ways.”
