For Immediate Release

Bill would keep wild Atlantic salmon safe as land-based salmon farming develops  

Augusta 

Because we are concerned that an inadequate state law could stimulate a derby style rush for land-based aquaculture licenses, Friends of Penobscot Bay strongly supports LD 620. 

The bill adds the below clause to sections 3 & 4 of 7 MRSA §1501. Land-based aquaculture license administered by the Dept of Agriculture Forestry & Conservation:

"alone in the use of a body of water or in combination with the aquaculture activity of any other land-based aquaculture operations using the same body of water,"

 The bill improves the one page state law on land-based aquaculture the Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry, which follows it to license land based agriculture in Maine. It requires the agency to factor in the effluents from pre-existing landbased fish farms in surrounding waters before licensing another in the same waterbody, and when deciding whether to revoke the license of an existing land based salmon farm.

Other state agencies can factor in the impacts of multiple pollution sources when deciding on a permit to add another pollution source. This bill clarifies that the DACF can and should, too, when it comes to this new agriculture. But during the Lepage Administration, neither DEP nor DMR were very interested in doing so when it came to evaluating the applications by Whole Oceans and Nordic Aquafarms.

In part this is because they have no standards for many of the biochemicals released by farmed salmon, These can have "trigger" effects on wild fish when concentrated into the effluents of a land based salmon farm existing the farm via an outfall . These can accumulate to levels that affect wild fish at much lower levels than nitrogen pollution or other pollutants currently reviewed by state agencies Maine DEP and DMR

Let's not repeat the errors that took place in Maine's enthusiastic embrace of fish pen salmon aquaculture in its early phases. When Maine's waterbased salmon farming first took off, the industry was very enthusiastic and aggressive, while DMR's laws were weak. As a result many sites got okayed that shouldn't have. Some were crowded too close together. Some in waters with currents too weak to disperse the salmon's manure.

Over the years DMR bettered its fishpen aquaculture law and rules, weeding out many poorly planned or run operations. But during that time there were ocean floors under some fishpens with manure a foot deep! Outbreaks of Infectious salmon anemia, too.

DACF will Identify and factor in the unique pollutants from LBAs if they are tasked to. LD 620 will make this possible,