Hurried aquaculture

The Aquaculture Task Force Report is a great disappointment. This hurried study found no time to address the most important factor driving the tremendous divisiveness the process of granting aquaculture leases has fostered in our state in recent years. What most needs clarification is the siting of fish farms – specifically how much of a particular body of water is to be taken from the public and given to an individual or corporation for commercial use.

The uncertainty of the current situation is what has so many people upset. If there were limits in place, people could relax, and a lot of the animosity toward aquaculture would disappear.

As the statute now stands the sky’s the limit. People are very fearful that large percentages of bays or rivers will be given over to commercial enterprises for their exclusive use, excluding all others from public waters traditionally open to all.

Surely aquaculture has a place on the Maine coast but the extent of its development must be delineated and legislated.

Peter Horton

Sedgwick