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Learning
to swim: Maine's marine aquaculture industry
Maine Science and Technology Foundation
June 14, 2002
THE MAINE COAST – Maine's marine aquaculture industry
went commercial with a modest project, Abandoned Farm,
Inc., which became the first mussel farm in the United
States in 1974.
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Maine's
first aquaculture company
SOUTH
BRISTOL, Maine – Maine's first aquaculture lease
was issued in February 1974 for a 20-acre T-shaped
piece of ocean in Clarks Cove in South Bristol.
That lease established Abandoned Farm, North America's
first mussel farm, said founder Edward Myers.
MORE
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Now
Maine leads the nation in farmed salmon production.
The state produced 36 million pounds of salmon and trout
in 2000.
George
Lapointe, commissioner of Maine's Department of Marine
Resources (DMR), said he expects to see "a continued
evolution of growth in the industry" as it adjusts to
conditions and continues to diversify into new species.
But
despite – or perhaps because of – Maine's position as
an aquaculture pioneer, Maine aquaculture faces a slew
of challenges that slow its growth even as the industry
works to establish itself as an innovative force for
producing safe, sustainable food sources and high-paying
jobs that can supplement the state's traditional commercial
fishing industry.
Maine's
Aquaculture Industry
The
Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA) counts as members
about 250 seafood producers and growers, professional
groups and infrastructure companies. Its members produce
a wide range of goods and services, including veterinary
care, nets, boats, fish diagnostics and engineering
expertise. MAA represents members in the political and
policy arenas, according to director Sebastian Belle.
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Congress
designates Maine for Cold Water Marine Research
Center
ORONO
and FRANKLIN, Maine – "We are responding to a
congressional directive to explore the possibility
of developing a cold water marine research facility
in Maine," said Wilda Martinez, North Atlantic
area director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
(USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS). MORE
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Belle
said Maine's aquaculture companies work under about
120 lease agreements, granted by the state that allow
producers to use fixed locations for cultivating finfish
such as salmon, or shellfish. He said Maine is also
home to 25 licensed fresh-water facilities that raise
fish.
Active
research efforts support Maine's industry. As businesses
and entrepreneurs raise fish using strains and techniques
that help them increase production and growth, University
of Maine scientists continue to research ways the industry
can improve yields and find new species appropriate
for aquaculture, where conditions differ from the wild.
Aquaculture
also benefits from the state programs designed to support
Maine's seven targeted technology-intensive industries.
Mike
Hastings, director of the Maine Aquaculture Innovation
Center and the new three-site Aquaculture Technology
Development Center, said his organizations, as well
as the Maine Technology Institute, support aquaculture
entrepreneurs and businesses with state-funded resources
that help companies move closer to commercializing products
and processes.
Challenges
Facing the Industry
Farm-raised
salmon is one of Maine's best-known food products, and
Maine is in a unique geographical position, said Steve
Page, environmental compliance officer at Atlantic Salmon
of Maine, because our fish farms can deliver fresh salmon
to New York markets within a day or two of harvest.
Atlantic Salmon, which is owned by Norway's Fjord Seafood,
produces about 10 million pounds of salmon annually.
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Supporting
aquaculture
Maine
companies that develop products for use in the
aquaculture industry "have been very helpful to
our producers," said Sebastian Belle, director
of the Maine Aquaculture Association.
Although
Belle said fewer than 10 companies in Maine currently
sell biotechnology products to assist aquaculture,
he believes that another six or seven companies
may be on the verge of commercializing products
for use in aquaculture. MORE
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But
with success has come notoriety. Belle believes that
Maine's No. 1 position in marine aquaculture has contributed
to outside pressure from regulators and environmentalists
who want to impose controls on the industry.
"We're
suffering the penalty of being the national leader,"
he said, noting that Maine's environmental conditions
– cold water and air temperatures as well as high rates
of ocean flushing – differ from those in other states.
"Aquaculture
is a very complex and technical field, and it's virtually
impossible to develop one-size-fits-all solutions,"
he said.
In
addition to environmental regulations, aquaculture is
also governed by a state leasing system that reviews
requests to use plots of ocean for aquaculture. Dr.
Chris Davis, a co-founder of Pemaquid Oyster Company
and aquaculture instructor, said that although the leasing
system works, it usually takes between one and two years
for applicants to receive approval. Lapointe said DMR
is working to make site leasing and monitoring easier
for applicants and leaseholders.
Davis
said the approval process involves filing applications,
site visits from DMR to test environmental conditions,
and public hearings. Hearings have become a contentious
part of the process, according to Davis, Belle, and
Jesse Leach, an oyster producer with a lease for a 4.13
acre spot.
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Maine
aquaculture highlights
"Maine
produces 18 percent of the salmon consumed in
the Northeast, but on a global basis, Maine's
production is less than one percent of the global
market."
"Maine
salmon farms produced $78.9 million in landed
salmon in 2000, and value added processing increased
this to an estimated $98.9 million."
"With
rapid growth in the 1990s, salmon farming employed
1,200 in Maine in 2000 and was the second largest
employer in Washington County."
"Marine
shellfish that have been cultivated for production
include mussels, which have developed into a $7
million industry using both wild and cultured
product, and oysters, which is a $1-2 million
industry. Other species have been cultivated on
an experimental basis, including hard and soft-shelled
clams, sea urchins and scallops."
Source:
Assessing Maine's Technology Clusters,
Maine Science and Technology Foundation, June
2002.
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Leach
operates the Bagaduce River Oyster Company. He said
hundreds of riparian property owners have opposed his
projects at public hearings because they don't believe
his "gear" contributes to picturesque coastal views.
Leach
has repainted his equipment to make it as inconspicuous
and low impact as possible. He deflects environmental
concerns, saying "oysters are good, they clean the water"
and cites a project in the Chesapeake Bay where oysters
are planted specifically for cleaning.
The
Business of Aquaculture
Oysters
have been good to Maine producers. Leach and Davis both
receive as many orders as they can fulfill. They sell
oysters for about 50 cents a piece to distributors;
the same oyster may be resold for $2 in a restaurant.
Many of Leach's oysters are sold and eaten in Maine,
though he said some have traveled as far as California.
Davis said his oysters are served in restaurants along
the east coast and were once offered in Windows on the
World.
With
business so good, Davis said there's plenty of room
for new companies, so he teaches courses in shellfish
aquaculture. He began teaching one-week shellfish methods
courses about 10 years ago; he has taught about 100
people over the years and currently offers the courses
at the University of Maine's Darling Marine Center with
Bruce Barber.
Davis
also teaches a 10-week course at the Maine Aquaculture
Training Institute. The course covers the biology, technology
and business side of shellfish aquaculture. The course
includes field trips to aquaculture facilities in Canada,
Maine and other Atlantic states. Among its alumni is
Jesse Leach, who took the course under a state retraining
program for commercial fishermen.
Davis
said he has adapted the course to meet participants'
needs, so he now helps them with their lease applications.
He also helps students assess potential lease sites
using equipment bought with a grant from the Maine Science
& Technology Foundation that measures current, water
temperature, conductivity, salinity and depth to assess
the viability of potential lease sites.
Davis
said he encourages startups to explore multiple sites
to shorten the time from idea to market.
"It's
a long-term commitment," he said, that can take up to
five years before seeing income.
Diversity
& Competitiveness
Site
diversity can be a key to profitability.
When
infectious salmon anemia (ISA) hit fish in Cobscook
Bay and farms were forced to destroy more than a million
fish, Atlantic Salmon of Maine lost less than 10 percent
of its fish because its salmon live in pens at 14 lease
sites along the coast.
The
company uses about half of those sites at any given
time, allowing the others to remain fallow. The company's
resource is protected further because land blocks the
sites from one another, isolating the fish and creating
diverse conditions.
A
different kind of diversification – into new species
appropriate for aquaculture – provided the impetus behind
research at UMaine's Center for Cooperative Aquaculture
Research (CCAR) in Franklin. Research at the center
recently led to the first spawn of captured halibut
on U.S. territory.
Although
the eggs did not survive, Mike Hastings said scientists
were "delighted to see [a fish] spawn." He said the
specially captured halibut often don't eat for about
five months, and spawning is partly a response to good
nutrition.
Despite
the difficulties, Hastings said "halibut particularly
is being cultivated in other countries," which also
preceded the U.S. in raising salmon.
In
the future Maine researchers hope to work with cod and
haddock.
Diversity
also came into play in plans to house Maine's Aquaculture
Technology Development Center at three locations, including
CCAR. Hastings said different types of aquaculture require
different systems for water circulation. Using three
facilities will also allow access to more people along
the Maine coast.
The
development center director said the new facilities,
to be built at Franklin and at Washington County Technical
College, should help promote collaboration between industry
and researchers. In the meantime, the Darling Marine
Center recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate
about 1,000 square feet of lab space to the incubator.
Each
site will provide specialized facilities for aquaculture
companies plus business services that Hastings said
will probably operate through circuit riders who help
the companies develop small business skills. Hastings
hopes to have tenants at Darling by the end of the summer
and a facility at Franklin by snowfall.
The
Economic Stakes of Aquaculture
Although
fish brings in more money for Maine's aquaculture industry
than shellfish, Belle said shellfish is growing faster
in the state because it requires fewer resources for
entry and businesses can be built slowly. Belle estimates
that there are about 1,000 people (full-time year-round
equivalent) working in aquaculture in Maine.
Maine's
aquaculture practitioners range from those like Jesse
Leach, who works with only one partner in his oyster
business, to Atlantic Salmon of Maine, which employs
about 350 people at Atlantic Salmon and its sister company
Ducktrap River Fish Farm, both owned by Fjord Seafood.
The two companies have a combined annual payroll of
$10 million.
With
so many jobs at stake, Maine's aquaculture industry
works hard to dispel misperceptions that could limit
its potential for growth and revenues. Page, for example,
said many consumers think all farm-raised salmon is
filled with antibiotics, but he said Atlantic Salmon
has used no antibiotics in its farms for more than two
years.
Page
said Atlantic Salmon is also working to receive international
recognition of its compliance with environmental regulations.
With the certification, the company hopes to win new
market share. One element of its strategy will be to
include on its packages fish information that enables
consumers to track their purchases back to individual
hatcheries.
Public
scrutiny and a demand for full transparency have also
led Jesse Leach to offer talks on oyster husbandry to
camp children as well as tourists taking canoe and kayak
trips near his site. Leach also encourages local schools
to include shellfish in their curricula and takes part
in programs to plant shellfish in local municipalities.
In
the end, believes Leach, tourists visit Maine for fresh
seafood as well as coastal views. Despite the difficulties
of aquaculture, Leach is glad to have moved away from
taking fish from the wild.
"I
control my own destiny now," he said.
Atlantic
Salmon of Maine is also working to control its destiny
by exploring new markets and developing new value-added
products, such as marinated microwaveable salmon, to
try to attract more people to seafood.
"We
need to win over more customers from chicken and beef,"
said Page.
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