In Episode One of North by Northeast, Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation’s executive director Crystal Canney speaks with Jon Lewis, the former director of Maine's aquaculture program and consultant to Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation. A growing number of aquaculture leases and conflict are setting the stage for some rocky times on Maine's Coast.

Besides Friends of Frenchman Bay, Portland-based Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation also is opposing the Frenchman Bay venture. The coalition works with lobstermen and small aquaculturists to protect coastal Maine from industrialized aquaculture.

Under current state regulations, the group’s executive director, Crystal Canney, warns American Aquafarms potentially could expand its proposed leases from 110 to 1,000 acres. In a related move, Rep. Robert Alley (D-Beals) has drafted legislation that would cap the total size of any one aquaculture application and prohibit the transfer of leases without public hearings.

Originally published in the Portland Press Herald

Some believe that Maine's process for approving in-water aquaculture is too permissive, and that such operations could overtake the coastline.

Recent pushback surrounding a proposed in-water salmon farm in Frenchman Bay has fueled the efforts of a group advocating for changes to the state’s aquaculture regulations.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage is calling for the Maine Department of Marine Resources to not only reject an as-of-yet unfiled proposal for a roughly 110-acre penned salmon fishery, but also revise the rules governing how such projects get approved. The group argues that without proper regulatory constraints, the state’s fast-growing aquaculture industry could disrupt traditional fishing activity and overtake the coast with large, industrial fish farm operations.