Opinion: Push to ‘supersize’ aquaculture is not right for Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 22, 2026

President Trump’s calls to “supersize” the American aquaculture industry, outlined in a May 14 Guardian article, are increasingly framed as a path toward seafood independence and domestic food security. But in Maine, where industrial salmon farming operates, the reality is far more complicated. Maine is now the last place in the United States where Atlantic salmon are raised in open ocean pens, in the same coastal waters where endangered wild Atlantic salmon migrate and persist. In the context of ocean farming, the environmental concerns surrounding industrial salmon farming include nutrient pollution from fish waste and excess feed, the spread of parasites and disease in densely stocked pens and the risk of farmed fish escaping and interacting with wild populations that have evolved over thousands of years. ~ Crystal Canney,Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation; Dwayne Shaw, Downeast Salmon Federation