The two salmon farms being planned for Bucksport and Belfast, Maine, U.S.A. are making steady progress on navigating the regulatory licenses needed to make the projects a reality.
Whole Oceans, a planned RAS salmon facility with a projected capacity of 50,000 metric tons (MT), hopes to break ground on the first USD 75 million (EUR 64.7 million) phase of the facility this spring, according to a story in the Bangor Daily News. The planned facility, which will be located in Bucksport, Maine, will replace a defunct paper mill.
According to Whole Oceans spokesperson Angie Helton, the company hopes to begin site work this winter. The company has filed, or intends to file, nine permit applications with local, state, and federal regulators.
“The company has been in dialogue with local regulators for two years now and has enjoyed working with [permitting] authorities, but the process just takes time,” Helton told the Bangor Daily News. “Whole Oceans is not in a rush — the focus is to get this right.”
Progress is also ongoing at the second Maine-based RAS salmon aquaculture facility being developed in the state. Located just over 20 miles to the south in Belfast, the project – envisioned by Nordic Aquafarms – recently had a public meeting for a discharge permit.
The company has also started hiring employees locally, and more recently the company’s CEO and headquarters shifted to Maine.
According to the company, construction is expected to start in 2019.
Nordic Aquafarms, has faced some opposition from local residents in the form of a lawsuit. Filed by Eleanor Daniels and Donna Broderick – two abutters to the planned location of the Belfast facility – the lawsuit claims the city of Belfast “abused its powers by approving April 17 zoning and comprehensive plan amendments without following state statute and local zoning ordinance process for planning board and community involvement.”
Recently, on 10 October, the plaintiffs were given a “minimal discovery period” of 45 days, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot.
If lawyers for Daniels and Broderick determine a deposition is needed on the case, it must be completed by 6 November.
