Maine’s top court denies appeal of controversial Bar Harbor aquaculture lease

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 18, 2026

Maine’s highest court on Tuesday denied a second appeal of a state decision to grant a roughly 20-acre aquaculture lease in the waters off Bar Harbor to a Trenton-based mussel grower. The decision comes almost seven years after Acadia Aqua Farms first applied to lease about 40 acres in Eastern Bay to grow blue mussels. It also leases waters in Deer Isle, Blue Hill Bay and Frenchman Bay. The Bar Harbor proposal was met with organized opposition from residents and waterfront landowners.