New UMaine aquaculture research highlights consensus — and disagreement

Courtesy / H. Leslie The Maine Department of Marine Resources issued the first aquaculture lease to Ed Myers of Walpole to grow mussels in Clarks Cove in 1973. The cove continues to be an important sea farming site today.

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By Staff

A new study by University of Maine scientists highlights ways that Maine’s growing aquaculture industry is moving in a direction that many people can agree is beneficial in many ways.

The study, “Diverse perspectives on aquaculture development in Maine,” also points to areas of disagreement around how the industry is unfolding.

“We wanted to understand the diversity of views people hold about aquaculture in Maine,” UMaine scientist Melissa Britsch said in a news release. “What are people hopeful about? What concerns them? And most importantly, where is there common ground?”

Britsch, and fellow UMaine scientists Heather Leslie and Joshua Stoll explored those perspectives in a recently published article in the journal Marine Policy.

Who will benefit?

The research team found there is broad support for aquaculture development in Maine, but that different people prioritize different aspects of the industry. They identified four distinct perspectives — views that are not necessarily compatible, but also not always in opposition. All four perspectives supported economic diversification in coastal Maine, but they disagreed about who should and will benefit from further development.

“Given opposition to some recent specific project proposals, it is striking how broad support for aquaculture is in Maine, based on our study,” said Stoll.

One such proposal is by American Aquafarms, whose application to raise Atlantic salmon in Frenchman’s Bay last month prompted a flotilla of boats to parade in opposition.

Optimists and agnostics

The four perspectives identified by the researchers are:

• Aquaculture optimists, who believe that aquaculture development in Maine is a win-win for industry members and others who live and work on Maine’s coast.

• Aquaculture anchors, who are enthusiastic about aquaculture and view it as a way to support Maine’s coastal economy. However, they are concerned about the potential for negative environmental impacts and want to ensure that benefits from aquaculture are anchored in coastal communities.

• Aquaculture historians, who see the potential of further marine aquaculture development in Maine, but are cautious about the associated socioeconomic benefits that it affords coastal communities.

• Aquaculture agnostics, who have mixed feelings about the impact of aquaculture on Maine’s coast. They see aquaculture as benefiting aquaculture industry members but believe that further growth will involve economic and spatial tradeoffs between aquaculture farmers and other users of Maine’s coast, like commercial fishermen. They also believe that increased aquaculture development will reduce available space in Maine’s coastal waters for commercial fishing, displacing fisheries and other marine uses of Maine’s coast while having limited benefits for coastal residents generally.

Social science insights

Information on the environmental impacts of aquaculture has been gathered for decades in Maine and elsewhere. But relatively little social science research has been conducted. The team conducted the social science research with the aim of contributing to more transparent and inclusive visioning efforts and dialogue about the future of aquaculture in Maine.

“Ultimately, managing coastal environments means managing the people who live and work in different ways in these places — places that are valuable to so many, for so many different reasons,” says Maine Sea Grant director Gayle Zydlewski. “Understanding those reasons in a systematic fashion — like what has been done through this project — can help support communities and the state as they make strategic decisions about aquaculture development.”

The research was part of Britsch’s graduate work at the University of Maine, where she was recently awarded dual master’s degrees in marine biology and marine policy.

As part of the study, Britsch interviewed people statewide who are knowledgeable about Maine’s aquaculture industry and asked them to rank statements about the industry based on their agreement or disagreement with them. All participants ranked the same statements, which were drawn from a synthesis of published views about aquaculture in Maine over more than 20 years.

Originally from southern Oregon, Britsch has worked at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, with Maine Sea Grant and for a business incubator client, Maine Shellfish Developers, during its early operations in Walpole.