April 29, 2024 — Atlantic salmon producer, Cooke Aquaculture USA, organized beach clean-ups in Washington County, Maine, to commemorate Earth Day 2024.
About 10 volunteers took five truckloads of debris that had washed up on the shore in Machiasport, while other volunteers gathered debris from the shore in nearby Jonesport.
January 21, 2022 — Critics of a land-based fish farm proposal from Kingfish Maine are getting louder, hoping to convince the local planning board that allowing the company to build a facility off Route 187 would be a bad idea. But local supporters also are speaking out, and seem to outnumber the opponents.
About 60 people attended an informational meeting hosted Monday by the company at the Jonesport fire station. Some at the meeting questioned Megan Sorby, Kingfish’s operations manager, and said information released by Kingfish was misleading or inaccurate, but others in the audience voiced their support for the project.
The area has long been reliant on the lobster industry, but with concerns about the long-term viability of that fishery and a need to shore up the local economy, the land-based fish farm could be what’s needed to help.
When someone asked for a show of hands, only about a dozen people raised theirs to indicate they were against it. Roughly two-thirds of the people in the room then raised their hands to show they are in favor of it.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News
July 7, 2020 — Kingfish Maine, a subsidiary of Kats, the Netherlands-based The Kingfish Company, will formally file its first pre-permitting application for its proprietary land-based aquaculture facility in Jonesport, Maine.
The Maine Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (MEPDES) application is “one of the more critical permits required for the operation of a land-based farming facility,” according to the company.
January 23, 2020 — Janet Mills, the governor of the U.S. state of Maine, recently announced a 10-year strategic economic development plan to grow the state’s economy, and has included aquaculture as a target industry to support and cultivate. The plan is designed to combat poor economic growth in the state caused by lethargic gross domestic product, a shrinking workforce, and subpar state wages.
“This strategic plan creates a road map to foster collaboration, drive innovation, jump start growth, and, ultimately, achieve a diverse, forward-looking economy that offers everyone an opportunity to succeed,” Mills said in announcing the plan, according to MaineBiz.
December 31, 2019 — Big changes could be in store for a quiet, lobster-fishing community in Washington County if a European firm ends up building a $110 million land-based fish farm on a largely undeveloped property overlooking Chandler Bay.
But Jonesport and its companion town of Beals, connected by a 1,000-foot arched concrete bridge over Moosabec Reach, already have been experiencing major changes in recent decades that have been more subtle, more gradual and less welcome. The towns have grappled with lackluster development, declining populations and school enrollments, and the effects of the opioid addiction crisis that has hit Washington County especially hard and led the FBI to Jonesport and Beals this past spring to raid three suspected drug houses in the community, as well as others in the county.
Nobody expects a major employer moving into town to solve all the challenges the towns face, even if the yellowtail aquaculture company Kingfish Zeeland does what CEO Ohad Maiman says it plans to do — hire 70 people up front, establish a job-training program with the local high school and Maine colleges, and possibly expand production later. But local officials and residents say the development could help boost and diversify the area’s economic prospects without sacrificing the rural, hard-working character of what has been a fishing town for more than 200 years.
November 21, 2019 — A Dutch company has reportedly selected the Washington County town of Jonesport for a multimillion-dollar, land-based aquaculture facility to grow yellowtail, a type of fish beloved by chefs and sushi aficionados.
Kingfish Zeeland settled on the historic fishing community roughly 20 miles from Machias after exploring other potential sites along the Maine coast, according to reports in local and seafood industry media. Kingfish Zeeland’s envisioned yellowtail facility is at least the fourth major land-based aquaculture operation proposed in recent years in Maine, which is experiencing a surge in “farming” for fish, shellfish and other marine products.
Company representatives were expected to discuss their plans Wednesday night during a special town meeting in Jonesport. The company did not respond to a request for additional information Wednesday, and a member of the Jonesport Board of Selectmen said town officials are waiting for Wednesday’s meeting before commenting.
“We are anxious to hear their presentation,” Selectman William Milliken said.