October 7, 2025 — Following on previous exchanges, a group of eight stakeholders in Maine’s farm-raised scallop industry are planning to visit similar interests in Japan.
“Technology transfer is one of the fastest ways to build, support and ramp up an industry,” said Hugh Cowperthwaite, senior program director of fisheries and aquaculture for Coastal Enterprises Inc. in Brunswick. “By spending time in Japan, our hope is to gain first-hand experience meeting growers, harvesters, processors, retailers, restaurateurs and scientists to learn how sea scallops are grown, harvested, processed, marketed and made into various products to continue our work in Maine diversifying Maine’s coastal economy.”
The group will visit the northern prefectures of Aomori and Hokkaido, both of which have a climate and seasonality like Maine and are rooted in natural resource-based economies.
The trip, made possible by a grant from the Builders Initiative to CEI, is scheduled for Oct. 13-17.
‘Promising results’
The trip was organized by Cowperthwaite; Keiichiro Hamano, CEO of Japan Fishing Machine LLC; and Yoshinobu Kosaka, an expert on the physiology, ecology and aquaculture of scallops who lives in Aomori Prefecture and works as an advisor for many companies. Hamano and Kosaka helped the group establish connections in Japan.
Dana Morse, senior extension program manager for Maine Sea Grant and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, provided additional support, drawing on his role in previous exchanges, which began with his 1999 visit to Aomori to study the scallop industry.