March 21, 2019 — Lobstermen are among the organizers of a citizen petition asking the state to limit where new aquaculture operations are sited in Maine’s coastal waters, claiming the surge in new licenses affects where they can drop traps.
A wave of aquaculture operations has swept along the coast in the last few years, sparking concerns from lobstermen and others about waterfront access, aesthetics and interference with commercial fisheries.
A 40-acre oyster farm proposed in Maquoit Bay in Brunswick by Mere Point Oyster Co. is a flashpoint in the debate. The hearing on its application prompted three days of prolonged, contentious discussion, involving landowners in the upscale neighborhood of Merepoint, members of the town’s fishing community and others.
“I’m here to let the Department of Marine Resources know that their system of granting aquaculture leases is broken or, even worse, non-existent, as far as it pertains to the commercial lobstermen in this state,” John Powers, a lobsterman who has fished around Brunswick for 40 years, said at a news conference in the State House on Wednesday.
Powers was among a handful of organizers who submitted a petition with 189 signatures to the Department of Marine Resources, almost 40 more signatures than needed to trigger the rule-making process.