Developers cut back their plans for Bucksport’s long-delayed fish farm

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2025

After years of delays and long periods of silence, the developers of a land-based Atlantic salmon farm in Bucksport that was once celebrated for its potential to help redevelop the former mill town now say they plan to move ahead with a project that’s a fraction of the original size. Local officials are still enthusiastic about the potential of the fish farm, which they say would grow the tax base and possibly even open up new opportunities at a smaller size. But Bucksport residents are more skeptical now about what the project could do for a community that’s been working to recover from the closure of its biggest employer, the Verso Paper mill, for a decade. In June, Whole Oceans made a proposal to investors for a 3,000-metric-ton project, which was just 15 percent of the original size.