Partners include PC Construction and SMRT Architects & Engineers, both with specialized experience in aquaculture and water treatment.
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A proposal to establish a land-based salmon farm on the former Great Northern Paper mill site in Millinocket is moving forward.
Great Northern Salmon, headquartered in Portland and previously called Katahdin Salmon, said it has established partnerships with production, technology, finance and construction companies.
It wants to build a recirculating aquaculture system that would produce 5,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon. The salmon would be hatched, raised, processed on-site and sold to regional Northeast markets. At full capacity, the operation would have 80 full-time employees.
In 2023, the company signed a lease for an industrial area within the 1,400-acre One North property, which is owned by Our Katahdin, an economic development nonprofit.
Agreements
Earlier this year, Great Northern finalized a six-year sales agreement with Boston seafood wholesaler Stavis Seafoods.
Norwegian aquaculture technology AKVA Group was selected after an evaluation of several vendors and has extensive experience in design and delivery, according to a news release.
In late 2025, Great Northern signed a contract with Morgan Stanley for capital-raising and advisory services. Great Northern said it also has a partnership with Pareto Securities, an investment bank headquartered in Oslo, Norway, that bills itself as having a leading position in the Nordic capital markets and a strong international presence.
The company formalized a construction management contract with PC Construction and said it would work with SMRT Architects & Engineers; both are in Portland.
“We have collaborated with both for years, and both have developed specialized experience in the aquaculture and water treatment sectors,” the company said.
The company also has public-private collaborations that include Our Katahdin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Eastern Maine Development Corp., Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, Maine Technology Institute, Finance Authority of Maine and the Northern Border Regional Commission.
In January, Great Northern was awarded $2 million in new development funds from the Maine Technology Institute.
“We have built these relationships and others over time to achieve strong alignment on goals, collaboration and shared interest in developing aquaculture in Maine,” Marianne Naess, Great Northern’s CEO, said in the release. “Additional partners also deserve credit, and more will be formalized in 2026, all part of building strong and resilient execution capabilities beyond our own team.”
