Saving Seafood

MAINE: American Aquafarms says, “We’re not going anywhere”

June 2, 2022 — American Aquafarms has appealed a recent decision by the Maine Department of Marine Resources to terminate two lease applications for a proposed salmon farm in Frenchman Bay.

The DMR terminated the Norwegian-back company’s applications to grow 66 million pounds of Atlantic salmon annually at two sites near Bald Ledge and Long Porcupine Island because American Aquafarms “failed to fulfill its legal obligation to demonstrate an available source of fish to be cultivated at its proposed salmon farms in Frenchman Bay,” according to a statement released by DMR on April 20.

American Aquafarms is asking the court to vacate the DMR’s decision and send the applications back to the department for continued consideration. The DMR, in a statement, said it stands behind its decision to terminate the lease applications.

The reason for termination, according to the DMR, lies in the proposed egg stock that American Aquafarms had listed in its application. “The source of Atlantic salmon proposed by American Aquafarms, AquaBounty of Newfoundland, Canada, did not meet the criteria for a ‘Qualified Source/Hatchery’ as defined in DMR regulations,” and that the company “failed to provide documentation demonstrating that the proposed source of fish/eggs could meet genetic requirements in law.”

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Frenchman Bay salmon farm developer sues Maine for spiking its lease application

May 31, 2022 — The company behind a controversial plan to build an industrial-scale salmon farm in Frenchman Bay is taking its case to court after the Maine Department of Marine Resources terminated its lease application last month.

American Aquafarms filed a complaint against the state in Cumberland County Superior Court last week. The Portland company, funded by Norwegian investors, proposed raising 66 million pounds of Atlantic salmon annually at two closed, 15-pen sites in Frenchman Bay, between Bar Harbor and Gouldsboro, with each pen encompassing 60 acres. The company also proposed operating a fish processing plant in Gouldsboro.

In its complaint, American Aquafarms alleges that the department’s decision was not supported by evidence. It also claims that the department spoke with a third party without its knowledge just days before the decision, violating American Aquafarms’ right to due process.

The state’s marine regulatory body terminated the application April 19. There were two major issues with it, said Jeff Nichols, department spokesperson.

First, the company failed to find a proper source for its fish eggs, according to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the department. The hatchery listed in the application, AquaBounty in Newfoundland, is not on Maine’s list of qualified egg sources.

American Aquafarms also failed to show that the proposed hatchery satisfied genetic requirements mandated by state law, Keliher said.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine dam owner to make changes to try to save salmon

May 3, 2022 — The owner of hydroelectric dams in Maine said Monday it’s going to make changes to some of its operations to try to help save the final remaining wild Atlantic salmon in the United States.

The country’s last wild populations of the fish are found in a few Maine rivers. Salmon counters found fewer of the fish on one of those rivers, the Penobscot, last year than in any year since 2016.

Brookfield Renewable U.S. said Monday that it has begun shutdown procedures for dams on the lower Kennebec River to help the salmon migrate. The company is a subsidiary of a larger Canadian company that owns many dams in Maine.

Read the full story at AP News

MAINE: American Aquafarms project terminated

April 28, 2022 — American Aquafarms’ plan to raise 66 million Atlantic salmon in Frenchman Bay seems to be dead in the water. But the broad citizens’ coalition, which swelled to include all seven Frenchman Bay towns, the Downeast lobster fishery, Acadia National Park, MDI Biological Laboratory and several land trusts, has kept a steady spotlight trained on the issue for a year and is very much alive. 

In fact, Frenchman Bay United is prepared to challenge industrial-scale fish farming in Maine coastal waters in light of the departments of Marine Resources and Environmental Protection’s decisions late last week to terminate the Norwegian-backed company’s project that would have involved discharging 4.1 billion gallons of diluted wastewater into the 14-mile bay.  

For over a year Frenchman Bay United, a coast-wide coalition of four groups, has led an aggressive public campaign to oppose American Aquafarms’ proposed operation to farm salmon at 15-pen sites off Bald Rock Ledge and Long Porcupine Island. Its members offered scientific data suggesting the farm’s discharged wastewater would largely remain rather than exit Frenchman Bay and potentially harm fragile marine plants, ecosystems and the lobster, shrimp and scallop fisheries. They staged a 125-boat flotilla of lobster-fishing boats, kayakers and sailors last August in Frenchman Bay as a form of protest and other events to draw attention to the controversial project first proposed in mid-fall of 2020. 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

American Aquafarms expected to take a ‘pause’ to figure out future of salmon farm

April 22, 2022 — The future of one of the most controversial aquaculture proposals in Maine history remains uncertain after its application was cut short by state regulators this week.

An official at American Aquafarms said the Norwegian-backed company that wanted to grow Atlantic salmon in nets pens in Frenchman Bay would likely consider its options following the Department of Marine Resources’ termination of its lease applications.

“The DMR response is perplexing to say the least, and the way it has been communicated is a surprise,” Thomas Brennan, American Aquafarms’ director of project development, wrote in a brief email Thursday. “I expect the company owners are taking a pause to understand what this all means for the future.”

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said Wednesday it would no longer review the company’s application for two 60-acre leases off Gouldsboro because American Aquafarms had failed to select an approved salmon egg source.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

‘There’s no fish that you can’t make delicious’

April 6, 2022 — Walking into Fearless Fish, a small market in Providence specializing in local seafood, is like walking into Tiffany’s. The showcases dazzle the eye.

There’s familiar fare, like Atlantic salmon, haddock, and sea scallops. There’s also a riveting range of fish that are relatively mysterious, curios like scup, butterfish, pollack, Acadian redfish, conger eel, and monkfish. While abundant in our waters, these so-called “underutilized” species — less known to New Englanders, less tasted, less in demand — are often exported to countries that apparently appreciate them much more than we do.

Most of the region’s Atlantic dogfish, for instance, goes to England for fish and chips. “It’s crazy,” said Chris Cronin, the chef at Union Flats Seafood in New Bedford, who prefers “unique” fish to the familiar. “Dogfish is pretty mild, slightly sweet with a flakey texture comparable to haddock. It takes on other flavors, and I like to serve it with citrus notes.”

Since Fearless Fish opened in early 2019, owner Stuart Meltzer’s main aim has been to try and broaden the consumer palate. “We want to help people become more confident, to try new fish,” he said one noontime, as mostly younger customers streamed through the door. The pandemic-driven interest in local foods has been good for sales, he noted, inspiring more daring in home kitchens. Skate piccata? Roasted mackerel with chimichurri? The store’s online recipes and cooking lessons help to demystify lesser-known fish, as does its disclosure of catch site and means. “Fluke, Pt. Judith, dragger.” “Monkfish, Gulf of Maine, dragger.”

“It’s important to me, and shared by customers, that the product is local,” said Meltzer.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Cooke gets two wins, advancing Salish Fish steelhead project in Washington

March 1, 2022 — Cooke Aquaculture Pacific has won two victories allowing its plan to farm steelhead in the U.S. state of Washington to advance.

In a unanimous, 9-0 decision, the Washington Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to allow Cook to convert its idle Atlantic salmon net-pen farms to raise steelhead. The move was precipitated by Washington’s ban on farming of non-native species in its waters.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Disease resistance gene pinpointed in farmed salmon, trout

September 24, 2021 — Using a combination of genomics and gene-editing technologies, a team of scientists has identified a gene that has a major role in the resistance of salmonids to Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus (IPNV), a disease that can cause high mortality levels in farmed salmon and trout.

The study, carried out by the Roslin Institute and Hendrix Genetics – together with the University of Stirling; the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; and Uppsala University – identified the gene Nedd8 Activating Enzyme E1 (Nae1) in Atlantic salmon using CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Maine groups receive $900K to help restore Atlantic salmon populations

September 8, 2021 — Continuing efforts to help restore Atlantic salmon populations in Maine are receiving a boost thanks to $900,000 in funding awarded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced Tuesday that four organizations in Maine have been selected to receive money from the distribution to assist their efforts.

“Atlantic salmon are a critical part of our state’s marine ecosystem, but they are endangered and at risk of extinction,” Collins and King said in a joint statement. “These fish help to ensure the health of our rivers and oceans that Mainers and wildlife depend on. We welcome this funding, which will help to conserve and restore wild Atlantic salmon and their ecosystems across the state.”

The Atlantic salmon, specifically the Gulf of Maine distinct population that has been protected since 2000 under the Endangered Species Act, is one of the most at-risk endangered species, NOAA reported. Only approximately 1,200 fish return each year, although as of Aug. 30 only 522 salmon have been counted so far this year at the Milford and Orono dams.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

MAINE: Penobscot River is on track to see fewest Atlantic salmon in recent years

August 30, 2021 — As the species continues to struggle to reproduce and re-establish historic populations, there have been considerably fewer Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River this year.

As of the latest trap count report provided Aug. 23 by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, only 520 salmon have passed through the Milford and Orono dams this year.

That is fewer fish than were counted, as of the same date, in each of the previous four years and represents the fourth lowest total since 2000.

But one down year doesn’t spell disaster for the species.

Last year, 1,458 Atlantic salmon made their way through the Penobscot River dams, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. It was the highest return since 2011.

“There are many factors that might contribute to the lower run this year, the most significant likely being low survival at sea and poor freshwater survival and passage at dams for juveniles in prior years,” said Sean Ledwin, the sea run fisheries and habitat division director for the Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News