VOICES IN THE MAINE AQUACULTURE REFORM DEBATE 2002- 2003
Maine Aquaculture-related Federal District Court Cases 2001 - 2003
Governor Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Aquaculture Reform Task Force update April 03
The Maine legislature's hearings on aquaculture reform during the 2002 & 2003 Maine legislative sessions brought many different people and interests before the state's Marine Resources Committee.
From boatbuilders and vacation homebuilders to fishermen and conservationists, from physicians and government officials to fishpen company leaders and shellfish growers, Mainers made clear their concernes and hopes for aquaculture reform.Read some of their many insights and points of view below.
Twelve of Maine's Marine Trades businesses explain to Governor Angus King why they believe "that proliferation of finfish aquaculture as exemplified by the salmon industry will diminish the character and quality of the coastal waters for recreational purposes" Their letter was also delivered to the Legislature's Marine Resources Committee.
Atlantic Salmon of Maine operations manager Robert Hukki, called for a one-third expansion of salmon farming acreage.His testimony is followed by questions from Representative David Lemoine, D-Old Orchard Beach, Representative Kevin M. Muse (R-Fryeburg) and Representative Thomas Bull D-Freeport) to him at the lastLemoine is co-chair of the Marine Resources Committee.
More than a hundred commercial fishermen and seafood industry reps from 42 Maine towns have signed a petition to the Maine legislature calling for local control of aquaculture. The petition was delivered to the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee Tuesday, March 5, 2002.
Jeff Kaelin, Heritage Salmon of Canada and Maine Aquaculture Association leader , told the Marine Resources Committee his industry would "strongly oppose this draft bill. Rather than support a leasing moratorium we ask the committee to recognize the immediate need to expand salmon farming acreage by at least one third, with no significant additional production resulting, to improve our ability to manage fish health in a complex and variable marine environment." Kaelin's testimony is followed by questions by the committee about his company's activities, including then-recent state citations for failing to report more outbreaks of ISA.
Physician and cancer expert Arthur J. Weiss, M.D. wrote to Senator Jill Goldthwaite, Governor King and DMR Commissioner George Lapointe that credible scientific research suggests that antibiotics used in fishpens are weakening human microbial resistance of fishpen workers and residents that live near salmon farms.
Aquaculture support business owner Bill Kelleher describes antibiotics use bythe aquaculture industry's use of pesticides and antibiotics, and is questioned about it by Representatives Nancy Sullivan (Biddeford and Kennebunkport), Paul Volenik (Brooklin, Deer Isle, Isle au Haut) and Debra McNeil (Rockland).
The Conservation Law Foundation wrote to the legislature's Marine Resources Committee, calling for "a new model that will reduce the conflicts in the siting process, balance competing aquaculture, fishing and conservation (and related recreation & tourism) interests, and protect our public resources."
Three Eastport residents write to the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee describing their experience with the fishpen industry's noise, odors, oily films on shorelines, floating and washed-up feedbags and other debris, and the navigational hazards of fishpen mooring lines at night and in stormy weather.
DMR Deputy Commissioner opposes aquaculture reform.Read the testimony of Penn Estabrook, Deputy Commissioner, Maine Department of Marine Resources, and questions by the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources on February 21, 2002 Estabrook, who is in charge of Maine DMR's Division of Community Resource Development , claimed that it would be too expensive to study the impact of aquaculture lease proposals on existing local economies. The Committee was skeptical
Bagaduce River island owner Caren Plank of Penobscot, Maine, explained to the committeethat "Fairness and democratic principle require significantly greater citizen-informed participation with a delineated role for county/municipality input from the time the application is filed with DMR"
Fisherman and sea scallop restorationist Marsden Brewer called for an aquaculture moratorium "to provide an opportunity for a public process to develop aquaculture in a way that can provide a future for our coastal communities. The state may find out that there is more money and less aggravation in licensing gear than granting exclusive property rights in what truly is our state's last great public trust resource."
Rob Bauer, natural seafood businessman, fisherman, Blue Hill Planning Board member, spoke for protecting Hancock County's summer industries & natural fisheries, and formunicipal authority over aquaculture businesses operating in his town, and explained the hydrologic reason for demarcating the fishpen moratorium line at the Bass Harbor Head Light.
The National Environmental Law Center and the US Public Interest Research Group. Josh Kratka, representing both groups told the Committee that the state needs to enact a moratorium on aquaculture leasinguntil the state provides for "stakeholder involvement both in the development of bay-area management plans and in the decisions on individual lease applications," and can carry out strict enforcement of environmental standards.
Atlantic Salmon Federation representative ANdrew Goode called for fishpen-free Penobscot Bay, comprehensive bay-wide management elsewhere.Mr. Goode submitted written testimony to the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee.Read a description of and an excerpt from his spoken testimony describingthe reason why Penobscot Bay must remain a fishpen-free zone, to protect New England's last big wild salmon school and a criticalfederal salmon hatchery from fishpen-generated disease, parasites.
Jane McCloskey, a member of the Eastern Penobscot Bay Environmental Alliancesubmitted the comments of herself and six other persons on the new proposed Maine aquaculture reform bill. Marine Resources Committee hearing on reforming Maine aquaculture. Click Here
The Maine Municipal Association has written a detailed review of a Marine Resources Committee hearing on reforming Maine aquaculture. The association supports municipal control for towns that enact an aquaculture ordinance.
Listen to a radio discussion of the Maine aquaculture reform bill.
Contact: Ron Huber Penobscot Bay Watch 207- 594-5717 coastwatch@acadia.net
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