Huge News: American Aquafarms project appears to be dead in the water

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April 20, 2022

Good evening,

We have huge news tonight: The American Aquafarms project appears to be dead in the water at least for now. The Frenchman Bay project has been the catalyst for increased attention regarding industrial scale aquaculture.  American Aquafarms was trying to site 120 acres of net pen salmon aquaculture at the foot of Acadia National Park.  Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation has been at the heart of this battle along with some incredible partners under the umbrella of Frenchman Bay United.  Read More Here at the Bangor Daily News 

There is so much work still to be done. If you would like to make sure another project like this doesn’t happen on Maine’s coast, please donate on our facebook page:

In the last three years, the fight to protect Maine’s oceans from large-scale industrial aquaculture has ramped up significantly. Communities across the state are uniting to say NO to the industrialization of our coastline by foreign corporations and lease holders who want to privatize hundreds of acres of the Maine ocean at the expense of small business lobstermen and women. 

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, (Protect Maine), may have started the conversation in 2019 but many more people are actively engaged. To that end, I wanted to update you on our specific projects and the funding necessary to continue this work.  

Recently, Protect Maine helped organize the lobstermen and women around the Acadia Aquafarms project.  The lease was for a 48-acre bivalve lease in the heart of Frenchman Bay. Acadia Aquafarms already has more than 150 acres and has a second lease pending for another 68. A decision on the 48 acres of bivalves will be forthcoming in the next few months. That’s a lot of ocean for any one company. Acadia Aquafarms will hold close to 300 acres if these next two leases are approved.

Lobstermen and women are pushing back as they lose acreage due to large lease holders with bivalves or net pen salmon in the water.

Under our current state regulations any company can:

  • Lease up to 1,000 acres

  • Hold those leases for 20 years

  • Transfer those leases without a public hearing

  • Cost to lease: $100 an acre per year

Billy Haass said it best during his testimony against the latest proposed Acadia Aquafarms lease: 

“There’s no way to go through it, you have to go around it,” lobsterman William Haass said. “We’re taking a huge gamble with these aqua farms, fish pens and mussel rafts, and it’s jeopardizing our livelihood … You might as well put up a 50-foot wall.”

You can read more of the article here:

https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/maine-news/mussel-farm-lease-draws-opposition/

Protect Maine has been working with towns along the coast to implement a moratorium on aquaculture over 5 acres until the community could develop its own ordinance around what is best for its community.  Here is an excerpt from the Island Advantages article: “Maine has opened the door for corporate and foreign money to buy our waters,” Canney said. “I’m concerned we’re going to sell the coast of Maine to foreign corporations.” You can read more about this work here:

Island Advantages

Bangor Daily News

To keep doing this work and the grassroots organizing contributions are very helpful. We would appreciate your financial support. 


In the next few months, Protect Maine will be doing a live zoom meeting call to answer your questions and give you updates. When we have that date, we will notify you via email and on our Facebook, twitter, and Instagram page.  Until then, we continue and are encouraged by seeing the number of people who are joining our effort to keep the coast of Maine what is – one of our greatest natural resources, the character of coastal communities and the lifeblood of the fishing industry. 

Sincerely,
Crystal Canney

Executive Director

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation

207 615 5968

protectmaine@gmail.com