Stewarding Belfast Bay and the Maine coastline

  • Fish Forward: Best Practices in Sustainable Aquaculture

    Land and sea-based aquaculture project proposals are becoming more prevalent along the coast of Maine. In 2021 Friends of Harriet L. Hartley received a grant to collaborate with the Environmental Law Institute to investigate best practices for environmentally responsible projects that minimize damage to our coastal ecosystems.

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  • Building a Network of Collaborators

    Working collaboratively with other groups is core to our mission.

    We are actively partnering with organizations and community groups that address issues of environmental protection and coastal conservation and restoration. We support local, small scale aquaculture farmers.

  • Community Outreach

    We create opportunities and plan events to educate the public about best practices in coastline conservation and stewardship. Each month members of our community are invited to join online meetings with guest speakers offering information and discussion related to these fields.

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Fish Forward: Best Practices in Sustainable Land-based Aquaculture

Aquaculture, the commercial production of finfish, shellfish, and seaweed, is a nearly $250 billion industry and holds great promise to meet the global demand for sustainable protein while avoiding damage to vital marine ecosystems. Land-based aquaculture, by physically separating operations from the marine environment, is commonly credited for its comparatively reduced impact on wild stocks, water quality, and natural habitat, but these benefits may not extend to any large-scale project whose emissions are released into the environment.

Few successful models of land-based aquaculture operating at scale exist, given the technical and biological challenges; associated water, land, and energy use; and—critically—an unclear regulatory environment trying to keep up with this still-novel approach to seafood production.

The Nordic Aquafarms facility proposed to be located in Belfast, Maine is a notable example. This $550 million project would have a total annual production capacity of 33,000 metric tons and is anticipated to create more than 60 jobs. However, the project would also result in substantial adverse effects on health, welfare, and the local ecosystem. Projected impacts include 7.7 million gallons of daily effluent released into Belfast Bay, 1.7 million gallons of freshwater extracted daily from Belfast’s aquifer, air pollution produced by eight 2 MW diesel generators, significant energy consumption, and the generation of greenhouse gases. It would also be built on the currently pristine and heavily forested mouth of a small river emptying into Belfast Bay abutting an historic recreational community.

This situation illustrates the consequences of Maine and its political subdivisions lacking a clear set of regulations that adequately addresses these concerns. Yet examples like the Finger Lakes Fish coho salmon farm in Auburn, New York, an illustration of a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS), demonstrate that environmentally and economically sustainable land-based aquaculture is achievable, given a clear set of state- and local-level environmental policies—a set of policies currently lacking in Maine and in Belfast.