Legislators in the U.S. state of Maine have proposed a new bill that would put density limits on salmon farms in state waters, a move made in response to the troubled American Aquafarms project.
The new bill, LD 1951, “An Act Regarding Marine Finfish Aquaculture,” would amend state law to add maximum stocking densities for salmon net pens located in state waters. The state’s Committee on Marine Resources unanimously voted ought-to-pass on 25 May on an amended version of the bill requiring salmonid net pens to remain under a density of 30 kilograms per cubic meter.
Maine State Senator Nicole Grohoski, who sponsored the bill, directly cited the troubled American Aquafarms proposal as a reason the state needs to update its laws regarding salmonid aquaculture in the state.
“Many people I represent are concerned that our current regulatory structure for ocean pen finfish aquaculture has not been modernized to appropriately regulate the impact of these fish farms on our shared coastal resources,” she said during a committee hearing on the subject. “The stocking density limit proposed by this legislation is not extreme, it is in line with the upper limits required or recommended by other governments around the world.”
American Aquafarms was proposing a closed net-pen salmon aquaculture operation with a production capacity of up to 30,000 metric tons annually. The project, which was to be located in Frenchman Bay, located of the coast of Gouldsboro, Maine, faced intense local opposition which cited the project’s close proximity to Acadia National Park. The town of Gouldsboro approved a moratorium on large-scale fish farms, and several local groups stridently opposed the project.
American Aquafarms ultimately lost a bid for an essential lease in the state, and its former CEO, Keith Decker, resigned and put the company’s processing plant up for auction in early May.
During the committee hearing, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher revealed that American Aquafarms’ original proposal was shut down for a number of reasons, not just a technicality related to its sourcing of salmon eggs from AquaBounty, which is known for its pioneering work creating and producing genetically engineered salmon.
“This was NOT due to a technicality, as some would have you believe. It was denied due to many failures of the applicant, including failing to demonstrate a qualified genetic source, and because the hatchery could not meet our standard in law or rule, and because samples sent to DMR were improperly cared for,” Keliher said.
Keliher added, “so it is clear to this committee and to the public,” that even if American Aquafarms had managed to get through the initial application process, there was no way it was going to be permitted in the state."
"I can tell you in no uncertain terms that even if American Aquafarms’ application had been deemed complete, these leases would have never been issued,” Keliher said. “Let me state this again for the record: I would never have approved this application.”
Despite the fact that the application had no chance, the applicant still had a right to due process – and that process is what led to the multi-year fight over the project, Keliher said. A limit on aquaculture density would not deny lease applications, he said, but could prevent operations of a certain scale “from ever coming forward.”
Grohoski said that preventing similar large-sized proposals in the future one goal of the new bill. She said American Aquafarms reapply if it wasn't limited by law from proposing such a large development.
The bill is intended not to limit existing aquaculture operations in the state – like those operated by Cooke Aquaculture – but to prevent “unreasonable and untenable” projects like the American Aquafarms project.
“People of all stripes came together to fight this project because they realized that it threatened our way of life, and that the costs would outweigh the benefits,” Grohoski said.
Grohoski said negative public reaction to the American Aquafarms project had a ripple effect that impacted existing aquaculture operations in the state.
“The controversy that surrounds massive ocean-pen fish farm applications causes damage to our responsible aquaculture growers and shellfish farmers, pitting neighbor against neighbor in coastal communities,” Grohoski said.
The Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA) opposed the original language on the bill, Maine Aquaculture Association Executive Director Sebastian Belle told SeafoodSource, as its 22-kilogram limit would have impacted existing operations.
“The original bill, we opposed, because it had some pretty draconian production limits in it that would have impacted existing farms,” he said.
However, the new language on the bill – which is still being finalized – increased the limit and impacts only salmonid production. The new 30 kilogram per cubic meter limit is in line with limits allowed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, according to Belle.
“The bill that finally passed was a bill that did not impact existing farms, but did send a message to the folks who proposed the American Aquafarms proposal,” Belle said.
An MAA statement commended “the hard work done by the committee” and said it is “confident that the amended bill will help ensure that the Maine aquaculture sector continues to encourage responsible operators.”
Belle also said the organization agreed with Grohoski’s point about the negative perception surrounding the American Aquafarms project having an impact on existing, responsible, farms.
The amended bill still needs to go to the legislature, but Keliher said that if it passes, it could help the hullabaloo surrounding the American Aquafarms proposal from reoccuring.
“It would prevent considerable controversy of the type that we observed from American Aquafarms, and prevent such projects from consuming the department’s limited resources,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Maine Legislature Committee on Marine Resources
