Sebastian Belle (he/him/his)
Executive Director
[email protected]
A longtime leader in aquaculture, Sebastian Belle has dedicated his career to demonstrating global leadership in aquaculture and advocating for a sustainable working waterfront. Since 1984, Belle has established best practices and advised commercial aquaculture ventures around the world, bridging private and public sectors. In April 2022, Belle was appointed as president of the board of directors, National Aquaculture Association (NAA) for the 2022 term. Prior to joining the MAA, Mr. Belle was the state aquaculture coordinator, working for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Mr. Belle serves on NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee and on the board of directors of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, The Island Institute, and The Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center. Mr. Belle is also vice president of the International Salmon Farmers Association. “Now more than ever aquaculture needs to unify as a sector to balance innovation with long-term sustainability,” says Belle. “Our seafood farm families, in Maine and across the nation, and working waterfront depend on it.”
Christian Brayden (he/him/his)
Project Manager
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Christian earned a B.A. in Economics at the College of the Holy Cross and an M.S. in Resource Economics and Policy from the University of Maine. Christian’s work at MAA focuses on applied research and assisting growers with aquaculture business and production planning, including financial benchmarking, risk management, and crop insurance. Other work revolves around seafood distribution, marketing, and the creation of Maine’s first aquaculture occupational standards, including their integration into broader aquaculture workforce development efforts. He has been with the MAA since 2017.
Trixie Betz (she/her/hers)
Outreach & Development Specialist
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Trixie earned her B.A. in Spanish and Criminal Justice from the University of Maine in 2022. After graduating and moving to southern Maine, she was introduced to aquaculture through her work on an oyster farm in Brunswick, where she exercised her creative skills to tell the farm’s story through social media. Her current role expands on what MAA has done to date by building out new and enhanced social media campaigns, sharp video production and design, and other key methods of outreach, both online and in person. She is passionate about farmer-forward storytelling that amplifies the narratives of the people who shape the industry, showcasing their personal accounts of working on the water, and emphasizing why farming is more than a job. She has been with the MAA since 2023.
Kat Lipp (she/her/hers)
Community Engagement Coordinator
[email protected]
Kat graduated from the University of Miami in 2014 with B.S. degrees in Biology and Marine Science. Her diverse career in the seafood industry includes NMFS groundfish observer in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, direct-to-consumer seafood sales with Salmon Sisters, set netting for sockeye salmon in Cook Inlet and recently graduated as an Aquaculture Apprenticeship at Mere Point Oyster Co. Joining MAA in July 2024, Kat’s experience in both wild fisheries and aquaculture uniquely positions her to foster strategic relationships for an Ambassador program that she will design and implement and she looks forward to making valuable contributions to the broader Maine aquaculture community.