Salmon farm hearing to reconvene State to focus on Canadian company’s interest in Blue Hill Bay project

AUGUSTA – The state will reconvene its public hearing on a controversial salmon farm proposal for Blue Hill Bay, focusing solely on whether a Canadian company’s interest in the venture rules out approval of the project under Maine law.

It is the latest setback for Acadia Aquaculture of Mount Desert, which bowed to public pressure and abandoned plans last year for two farm sites near Long Island.

Owner Erick Swanson then turned his attention to an area east of Tinker Island between the Blue Hill peninsula and Mount Desert Island, which is proving as unpopular as his first choice for the $4.4 million project.

In addition to building a new 54-acre operation off Tinker Island, Swanson has asked to expand his existing salmon farm located off Hardwood Island by 17.5 acres, for a total of about 45 acres.

The existing operation is owned by a second Swanson firm, Trumpet Island Salmon Farm Inc., also of Mount Desert.

Both Tinker and Harwood islands lie within the boundaries of the town of Tremont.

Swanson hopes to raise 300,000 to 400,000 salmon a year at each of the sites.

Ownership of both the existing and the proposed salmon farms has been questioned by opponents of the applications, who worry about the water quality of Blue Hill Bay, the impact of the salmon farms on the existing fisheries, and how much economic benefit Maine would get from the proposals.

Swanson’s Tinker Island business plan calls for Heritage Aquaculture of New Brunswick to provide financing, equipment, fish feed, veterinarian services, stock mortality insurance and staff for the $4.4 million Maine farm.

Hearing officer Mary Costigan of the Maine Department of Marine Resources said this week that state law limits aquaculture businesses to no more than 250 acres of leased area.

Since Heritage already is approaching the acreage limit in the Gulf of Maine, if the department finds the Canadian company should be the leaseholder, the project could be rejected, Costigan said.

In a letter to all of the legal parties on Tuesday, Costigan said the state needs more information to answer the ownership questions raised by Friends of Blue Hill Bay and Conservation Law Foundation, intervenors in the case.

“The department will reconvene the hearing on these applications for the limited purpose of gathering additional information on the issue of whether [Heritage] holds an interest in the leases such that it should be considered a tenant” under Maine law, Costigan said.

The hearing will be held in the Tremont area in December or January, after a 30-day public notice period, Costigan said.

According to its Web site, Heritage Aquaculture has headquarters in Black Harbour, New Brunswick, and is a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd. of Toronto, reportedly one of the largest food-processing and distribution companies in North America.

It markets Atlantic salmon under the brand name Heritage Salmon and runs salmon farm hatcheries in Maine, the Northwest, Canada and Chile. It also is a full-service provider to other aquaculture operations.

In his written responses to the intervenors’ questions on Oct. 2, Swanson said he owns and manages both the Trumpet Island and Acadia Aquaculture operations and that Heritage provides only business services and support.

He said Heritage is among the entities that have provided financing for his businesses. Heritage holds loans and credit lines, he said, which are secured with equipment, inventory and personal signature.

Heritage offers the only commercially available North American strains of Atlantic salmon smolts in Maine, he said, further explaining his close relationship with the Canadian concern.

“At no time did I or will I give up ownership or control of my business,” Swanson wrote on Oct. 2. “If Heritage decides to foreclose, that [is] one thing, but short of foreclosure, as an American citizen I am free to enter into lawful business agreements as I so wish.”