Ocean fish farming weighed in Maine

At Ocean Farm Technologies of Searsmont, which exports fish cages designed to withstand rough ocean conditions, company President Steve Page says Maine’s experience with in-shore salmon farming, combined with research at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maine, gives the region an opportunity to be an industry leader.

"There is a real synergy between what’s going on the universities and the experience of the salmon industry that gives our state a huge head start in terms of commercial-size aquaculture business," he told the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Michael Rubino, who manages the aquaculture program for the National Marine Fisheries Service, says fish-farming interests elsewhere are adopting U.S. technology and promoting the industry aggressively.

For American policymakers, he said, "The biggest challenge is: ‘Do we want to do this or not?’"

Fishermen and conservation groups express concerns.

One worry is that large-scale aquaculture of groundfish species could depress prices. Another is that oceanic fish-farming could disrupt the natural food chain: Harvesting smaller fish the commercial species prey on and using them for fish-farm meal would leave fewer for free-swimming fish to eat.

"It’s not removing pressure from fish stocks," said attorney Roger Fleming with the Conservation Law Foundation, "but making things worse, by removing a forage system that our stocks need to recover."

Putting it another way, Portland fisherman Curt Rice said, "It’s a very delicate balance. I think it’s better to let Mother Nature rather than man feed the fish."

New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture is raising 750,000 cod in pens in the Bay of Fundy and is ramping up production because it sees a strong market, said spokeswoman Nell Halle.

Source: Bangordailynews.com