PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 29, 2021
Maine is witnessing multiple plans for large aquaculture projects including two new sites planned for Frenchman Bay, in addition to those in Belfast, Bucksport and Jonesport. For some, the possibility of jobs and tax revenue from industrial-sized aquaculture is appealing. The success of these plans is dependent however upon new complex technologies. Maine is becoming positioned to be the proving grounds for these new technologies. Does Maine’s existing permitting process help determine what’s best for the state and the environment? Is this process explainable to concerned citizens and, in the case of Frenchman Bay, to the millions of visitors to Acadia National Park? We have encouraged Maine’s regulators to consider other examples of proven technologies such as minimal liquid and zero discharge. Why would we want to unnecessarily use excessive groundwater and add pollutants to our coastline? Why bend our environmental standards at this crucial time when better systems already exist. ~ John Krueger, Upstream Watch