After long hours hauling traps off the coast of South Thomaston on Wednesday, Barry Baudanza hadn’t had the chance to fully absorb all the changes headed his way after federal officials announced new rules governing the lobster industry the day before, but he knew one thing right off the bat: “This was the worst-case scenario.”

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation calls on state and federal authorities to do all they can to change the decision handed down by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan today. The decision will close large parts of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay from October to January.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, a nonpartisan group that represents the interests of Maine lobstermen, said the decision will close large parts of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering from Mt. Desert Island to Casco Bay from October to January.

More than 125 boats chugged across Frenchman Bay on Sunday to protest plans by American Aquafarms to place an industrial salmon farm in the bay off the coast of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Organizers of the “Save the Bay” flotilla said it demonstrates the depth of opposition to the proposed salmon farm. The parade of boats included working lobster boats as well as pleasure craft.

(HANCOCK, Maine) – “A Save the Bay Flotilla” to protest American Aquafarms’ proposal to put

30 massive salmon pens in the waters of Frenchman Bay just off Acadia National Park is being

organized for Sunday, August 29. All working and recreational boats from around the bay are

invited to participate.

Originally published in The Boston Globe

I was chairman of a committee in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, which fought against the creation of a large fish farm in Linekin Bay.

Published in the Boston Globe

Industrial aquaculture or bust? There’s a third, better option for Maine (“Lobsters are Vanishing. Can a Maine Way of Life Endure?” July 25). This story erroneously suggests that the state must either transfer public wealth — the ocean commons — to the aquaculture industry, or let its economy crumble.

Originally published in the Bangor Daily News

The American Aquafarms proposal to put an immense salmon farm near Acadia National Park adds an ironic twist to the term NIMBY — not in my backyard. In this case it applies to the developer, not the opponents.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation (PMFHF) kicked off its second annual fundraiser this weekend with a concert featuring the Chebeague Island band Turd Pollock. The band is comprised of lobstermen and women, and once again they donated their time and talents with a concert off a floating dock near Chebeague for this year’s fundraiser.

Originally Published in the Boston Globe Magazine

As lobsters decline, enormous industrial operations could be on the horizon. “They are gambling with our livelihood, our coastline, and our future.”