Saving Seafood

AMERICAN AQUAFARMS CEO: Aquaculture can play a big role in Maine’s economy and climate change response

March 23, 2021 — Maine is setting the stage with its response to climate change, the need for greater sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Aquaculture plays an important role in all three.

The United States imports about 90 percent of the fish eaten in the country. Those imports ship consumer dollars out of the country, while also having a direct impact on the environment from the transportation required to deliver the food.

With wild fisheries under pressure from overfishing and warming oceans, aquaculture provides an opportunity to produce food closer to the people who will eat it and in a controlled and sustainable way.

That’s why American Aquafarms has proposed a new aquaculture facility along the working waterfront in Gouldsboro with pens located in Frenchman Bay.

We believe that this project will produce salmon safely and sustainably, while helping to fight climate change and creating good jobs for Maine people.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Fishery group pans proposed salmon farm off Gouldsboro

January 21, 2021 — A Portland-based fishery group is expressing concerns about the proposed site and size of a salmon farm in waters off Gouldsboro.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation said the area proposed by American Aquafarms, in Frenchman’s Bay, is heavily fished by lobstermen.

American Aquafarms is an aquaculture startup backed by a Norwegian investor that has under contract the purchase of the 100,000-square-foot Maine Fair Trade Lobster processing facility in Gouldsboro. The company hopes to develop a salmon-farming operation there.

American Aquafarms was launched in Portland last year by Mikael Rones, CEO of Global AS, which is based in Trondheim, Norway. The proposal calls for building a salmon hatchery as well as farming and processing facilities on the site and operate closed deep-water pens for raising fish.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Opposition arises to American Aquafarms’ net-pen proposal in Maine

January 21, 2021 — An group of residents of the U.S. state of Maine have announced their opposition to an American Aquafarms proposal to grow up to 30,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon in closed net-pens located near the town of Gouldsboro.

American Aquafarms President and CEO Mikael Rones told SeafoodSource soon after the project’s announcement he chose Maine due to its natural resources and the aquaculture industry’s potential in the state. The company purchased an East Coast lobster facility in Gouldsboro, Maine, in October 2020, with plans to establish a hatchery, fish farm facilities, and a processing plant.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Shellfish lab proposed on Gouldsboro shore

June 22, 2020 — A town-owned parcel on Prospect Harbor’s eastern shore is the proposed site for a small shellfish resilience lab.

Baby clams would be raised in ocean-based nursery trays, brought ashore to overwinter in an indoor seawater tank at the facility and used to re-seed local flats come spring.

Endorsed by Gouldsboro selectmen last fall, the clam restoration project is a partnership between the town, Schoodic Institute and local schools. The proposed ¾-acre, shorefront parcel lies in a limited residential area and the lab’s proponents are proposing that the land be rezoned commercial fisheries/maritime to allow the clam cultivation.

The Planning Board will hold a related public hearing tentatively set for Tuesday, July 21, at the town office.

Pending the public hearing and the Planning Board’s consideration of the proposed amendment to the town’s shoreland zoning map, the zoning change could be put on the warrant for the annual Town Meeting, which has yet to be scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American