December 10, 2022 — Aquaculture opponents in Maine celebrated earlier this year when they helped convince state officials to block a proposed industrial fish farm in the waters of Frenchman Bay, right next to Acadia National Park.
This week, they said they’re now gearing up for another threat, fearing that Washington state’s decision last month to ban net-pen salmon fish farming could once again increase the pressure to develop Maine’s coastal waters.
Henry Sharpe, president of the opposition group Frenchman Bay United, said he was pleased that Washington state had decided to join Alaska, California and Oregon in banning net-pen farms.
But he said he was also “deeply concerned that … others will now see Maine as an even more inviting place to build large ocean-based fish farms.”
“We hope Maine officials are paying close attention to what is happening in these places that went big for ocean-based salmon farming only to now ban it,” Sharpe said.
Washington state’s decision to get rid of its fish farms has drawn attention from both conservation groups that oppose aquaculture on environmental grounds and businesses that hail it as a safe way to increase U.S. seafood production.
Washington state had long been regarded as a leader in salmon farming, allowing it in the waters of Puget Sound for more than 30 years.
But the industry took a huge hit in 2017 when a net pen operated by Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture Inc. near the San Juan archipelago collapsed and released 260,000 nonnative Atlantic salmon.