Fish-farming laws up for scrutiny at 3 public hearings

MACHIAS – Three public hearings on proposed changes to Maine’s aquaculture lease laws have been scheduled for early January.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources will conduct the hearings on Jan. 7 in Ellsworth, Jan. 8 in Eastport, and Jan. 9 in Machias.

The proposed regulations include both the revisions that DMR initially recommended during last year’s legislative session and changes included in a petition spearheaded by the Conservation Law Foundation and the East Penobscot Bay Environmental Alliance.

The petition was signed by more than 300 people and called for more stringent permitting regulations for new aquaculture applications and stricter regulations for Maine’s existing 27 salmon farms, most of which are located in Washington County.

The changes would require more information from applicants on the environmental characteristics of a proposed lease site; descriptions of the physical and ecological impact of a proposed fish farm; and improved public notice of lease applications.

The proposed changes also call for an increase in the bond that applicants must post from $5,000 to $25,000 and require that lease operators routinely monitor within a half-mile radius of a site and dispose of all errant gear, equipment and solid waste.

DMR aquaculture coordinator Andrew Fisk said Friday that proposed changes to the way existing aquaculture sites are monitored are also in the works. Those changes are being drafted and probably will be put out for public comment sometime this winter, he said.

Robert Gerber, president of the East Penobscot Bay Environmental Alliance, said Friday that he hasn’t had an opportunity to study the proposed changes, but would do so in the next few days.

Roger Fleming, a staff attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, said Friday there are many positive changes in the new rules, but the proposal does not go far enough in identifying the “other uses” of an area that DMR must consider in determining whether to grant a lease.

CLF and the alliance believe that the scenic and wild character of an area should be taken into consideration as well as the impact that a proposed fish farm would have on conservation, recreation and tourism, he said.

The two organizations hope to provide guidance to the Legislature on those issues when it considers the proposed changes to the lease law, Fleming said.

The proposed changes to the way Maine regulates the state’s $100 million salmon industry comes at a time when fish farming is under increasing scrutiny worldwide.

Aquaculture opponents routinely picket supermarkets in the United Kingdom that sell farmed salmon and, on the West Coast here some restaurants and retailers are supporting a British Columbia-based boycott of farmed salmon.

Opponents maintain that fish farming operations pollute the ocean and spread disease to wild fish.

The Ellsworth hearing will be at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, at the Ellsworth Middle School at 24 Forest Ave. The Portland hearing will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal Conference Room at 56 Commercial St. The Eastport hearing will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Marine Trades Center at 16 Cove Road.

The deadline for public comments on the proposed changes is Jan. 21.

For more information, call Fisk at 624-6554 or visit the department’s Web site at www.maine.gov/dmr/rulemaking.