With only a quick reading of its recommendations, a task force on aquaculture could be faulted for passing the buck on bay management, the concept that bays along Maine’s coast should be managed as a whole, not from fish farm lease to fish farm lease. Rather than deal with the complex issue of bay management and develop rules that would apply only to aquaculture, the task force, which dealt with numerous difficult issues in a short time, suggested that another group be appointed to explore the issue further. This makes sense, as long as this further exploration happens soon.

While the discussion of bay management has mostly centered on aquaculture, its implications are much broader and should encompass other areas. As the task force pointed out in its report issued last week, bays should be managed for many uses other than growing fish. Recreational and commercial boat traffic, recreational and commercial fishing, wildlife management and land preservation should all be taken into consideration when planning what activities will be allowed in the water.

Advocates of bay management are right, however, to worry that this conversation will never take place. The Department of Marine Resources should act soon to assure that such fears are unwarranted. It should also act while groups like the Maine Coastal Program have expressed a willingness to fund research into developing bay management techniques. As the task force noted, there are already examples of successful, if limited, bay management at work in Maine. In Cobscook Bay, for example, salmon farms have worked together to develop bio-security measures to stem the spread of disease there. Such efforts should be replicated and expanded.

While this work is ongoing, the Task Force on the Planning and Development of Marine Aquaculture in Maine has suggested changes to the process of granting leases to aquaculture operations that should alleviate some of the frustration with the current process. The group calls for more opportun-ities for public input into the leasing process, which is now highly technical and formalized, to reduce opposition to proposed projects. By involving community members early in the process, their concerns may be addressed proactively by the individual or company applying for a lease, said Paul Anderson, the chair of the task force and the director of the Sea Grant program at the University of Maine.

For example, moving a set of fish pens to the far side of an island may move them out of the route of a yacht race or make them less visible to coastal residents. As Mr. Anderson points out, it makes sense to have these discussions before DMR formally considers a lease application, not halfway through the licensing process.

On the marketing front, the task force is right that the DMR should not be promoting or helping an industry it is charged with regulating, but it is also correct that other state entities could do more to market Maine’s aquaculture products. A marketing campaign to accustom visitors and consumers to the working waterfront is a good idea and should be based on the successful Lobster Tales program run by the Island Institute that connects consumers around the world with lobstermen from Vinalhaven.

The task force said it views aquaculture as “an important and compatible element in Maine’s diverse coastal economy.” It is now up to future groups and the Department of Marine Resources to make that vision a reality.