BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 20, 2022
State officials have terminated American Aquafarms’ application for a massive fish farm in Frenchman Bay, dealing a major setback to the Norwegian-backed company that hoped to grow millions of pounds of Atlantic salmon in net pens. On Tuesday, the Maine Department of Marine Resources told American Aquafarms that it would no longer be processing the company’s lease applications for two 60-acre pen sites off Gouldsboro because the company failed to select a proper source for its fish eggs. The company can still submit an entirely new application, but a restart would likely tack on several years to the permitting process. The project had drawn criticism from fishermen, activists and lawmakers.