MAINE PUBLIC • August 11, 2023
A seal attack is being blamed for the loss of 50,000 juvenile Atlantic salmon at two fish farming sites near Cutler. Cooke Aquaculture spokesperson Joel Richardson said that divers discovered on Aug. 7 that seals had chewed through two cage nets near Cross Island. Each normally holds about 25,000 juvenile salmon, but were empty when workers found them. "DMR concluded that it is highly likely that one or more seals were able to get past the predator netting and create a hole in the net pen, allowing fish to escape. DMR staff also witnessed as many as 100 seals on a half tide haul out near the lease site. Others have indicated there are 300 to 400 seals in the area," Nichols said.