June 21, 2023 — While the ways that aquaculture can actively support commercial fisheries have been well established, there is nonetheless a tension between certain fishing and aquaculture communities. Though it can be easy to look at these two industries in a monochromatic way, aquaculture can open up brand-new opportunities for fishermen. Aquaculture farms represent another form of income for fishing families and can open up additional opportunities to employ those looking to get involved in jobs on the coast.
The tension between these communities can become prominent when certain perspectives are exclusively focused on, and National Fisherman fell into that trap with a recent article that only explored one perspective around the creation of a fish farm in Frenchman Bay, Maine. While the coastal community in Maine is a small one, it’s essential to contextualize the opportunities that projects like this can represent for hardworking fishermen who are considering expanding into the ground fishing, lobstering, and scalloping sectors of Maine’s state fisheries.
To provide that context, National Fisherman caught up with Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. He fully detailed the opportunities that aquaculture can provide fishermen, clarified the current state of Maine state regulations on aquaculture farms, outlined why what was proposed at Frenchman Bay would have never been issued a lease in Maine and more.
Read his insights below but also feel free to get in touch to let us know how National Fisherman can continue to cover these topics in a more complete manner.