This world is your oyster: a robust oyster farming industry thrives – despite hard work and nature’s wily ways
Mainebiz, 5/29/23 – “In 1986, Pemaquid Oyster Co. in Bristol was one of only a few oyster farms in Maine. ‘One of my friends said it was like belonging to a country club but, instead of going golfing on a Saturday, we’d mess around on the river,’ says Smokey McKeen, who started the farm with fellow aquaculture enthusiasts Chris Davis and Carter Newell. ‘At some point we had to treat it more like a business,’ he continues. ‘It’s been fun to see the industry grow’. From just a few operations 40 years ago to about 150 oyster farms today, the industry has grown indeed.”
a look inside MAine’s growing kelp industry
WABI-5, 5/18/23 – “Did you know Maine is currently the largest producer of kelp in the United States? There are farms located across our entire coastline, including a few off Sprucehead Island. Kelp has quickly become Maine’s new cash crop. Island Institute is partnering with Atlantic Sea Farms and their kelp farmers to offer boat tours during this year’s harvest. Atlantic Sea Farms provides seed for farmers for free. The kelp is then processed by Atlantic Sea Farms and added into products that can be found in grocery stores across the U.S.”
elebrating all things seaweed from chocolate to cheese as Maine hosts industry events
Mainebiz, 4/25/23 – “Production of Maine seaweed is projected to hit 1 million pounds this year as the industry showcases products, research and innovations at two major events this month. The fifth annual Seaweed Week kicked off last week across the state, with over 60 businesses — including bars, restaurants, breweries and distilleries — participating in the 10-day local food and beverage celebration until April 30. The National Seaweed Symposium is also being held — for the first time in Maine. It began Monday and will go until April 27.”
Called a ‘Game-changer,’ dehydrator will handle up to 30k pounds of kelp a day
Mainebiz, 4/25/23 – “Ocean’s Balance is importing a kelp dryer that it says will be a game-changer for Maine’s seaweed farming industry and could process 30,000 pounds of seaweed in just one day. The Biddeford-based company, which makes edible seaweed products, said today that it made a major investment in state-of-the-art drying machinery. Ocean’s Balance has also established a new entity called Seaweed Farmer Services, which will dry and mill farmed kelp on an industrial scale.”
SOCIETY NOTEBOOK: YOUTHFUL AQUACULTURE COMMUNITY CONVENES AT MAINE BEER CO.
Portland Press Herald, 1/22/23 – “Dozens of Maine oyster, mussel and kelp farmers attended a Maine Aquaculture Association social Jan. 11 at Maine Beer Co. in Freeport for a couple hours of networking, beer and shuck-your-own oysters. The nonprofit Maine Aquaculture Association, established in 1978, is the nation’s oldest trade association of its kind. ‘But look at the average age of people here,’ said Executive Director Sebastian Belle. ‘They’re young.’ [. . .] These association events are a place to talk with other growers about pressing issues – like sea stars, or starfish, which prey on oysters. ‘I’m here to touch base other growers and talk with people about solutions,’ said Hillevi Jaegerman, farm manager at Wolf Neck Oyster Co. in Casco Bay.”
MAINE’S SCALLOP INDUSTRY IS OFFERING FISHERMEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES AT SEA
The Fish Site, 1/13/23 – “Maine’s fishermen are facing numerous threats from climate change and changing ecosystems, and aquaculture offers a solution. The state’s wild fisheries have become very focused on the lobster industry, but farming sea scallops gives an opportunity to diversify the seafood harvesting business and increase resiliency for coastal communities built around seafood production. The scallop aquaculture community is unique to Maine and composed of a variety of people and organisations, including fishermen farmers, marine extension programmes, community development financial institutions and research and outreach foundations.”
AS MAINE’S CLIMATE CONTINUES TO CHANGE, SO DOES ITS GROWING SCALLOP FARMING INDUSTRY
News Center Maine, 1/9/23 – “When you work on the water in Maine, the cold months make for hit-or-miss days. For Andrew Peters and his three-person crew, undocking from Buck’s Harbor Marina in Brooksville to tend to their scallops is a year-round venture. It takes about 45 minutes by boat to get to the scallop farm. Along the way, Peters’ crew counts and cleans small scallops. The ones he was monitoring in in December were about an inch or so and needed another two years to grow to market size. ‘All my life I wanted to work on the water and make a living working on the water, and when I was younger, I wanted to be a lobsterman,’ Peters said while steering the boat through inlets on Penobscot Bay.”
TOMORROW’S LOBSTERMAN, TODAY: A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE FROM EASTPORT
The Maine Monitor, 1/7/23 – “One day, when Elijah was a young teen working toward his lobster license, he watched a documentary about climate change. The film got him thinking about the future, and the potential of aquafarming. He soon enrolled in the Aquaculture Business Development program, and that led him down the Eastern seaboard and back to study various sea farming operations, from oysters to mussels, kelp, and scallops. Kelp caught Elijah’s attention first. He soon invested in some kelp-farming gear, bought some seeds and a limited-purpose aquaculture license, and launched a kelp farm, under the parent company Mainely Seaweed.”
AQUACULTURE CONTINUES GROWTH IN MAINE
News Center Maine, 12/20/22 – “Aquaculture is a lot of dirty work with a little glamour at the end. Thomas Henninger covers the whole spectrum. He found oyster harvesting in his teens, and eventually founded Madeleine Point Oyster Farm on Maine’s southern coast. In June, he and business partner Ken Sparta opened Freeport Oyster Bar on prime real estate next door to L.L. Bean. He loves the animal and understands the following its gained in recent years in the northeast. ‘People are learning—more books, more articles, more things on TV,’ he said about coverage of the industry. ‘People are interested in oysters because they’re learning more about them.'”
MAINE AQUACULTURE FARMERS GET AN ASSIST TO MANAGE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY
Spectrum News, 12/06/22 – “Thomas Henninger knows how to grow oysters. But when it came time to invest in new equipment that would make his business more efficient, he wasn’t sure where to start. That’s when the Maine Aquaculture Association stepped in to give him the support he needs to grow oysters and grow his business. ‘When I knew what capital I needed, I was terrified,’ Henninger said Monday as he stood on a dock at Sea Meadow Marine in Yarmouth. ‘I had to really learn how to tighten things up, have a real inventory and be able to make predictions about the future.'”
