AUGUSTA – Legislators are considering a bill to formalize many of the recommendations of a task force that hoped to “create a welcoming atmosphere” and secure the future of Maine’s aquaculture industry.

“The fears about over-proliferation of aquaculture, while understandable, are generally unfounded,” said Paul Anderson, director of the Maine Sea Grant and chairman of the 11-member Task Force on the Planning and Development of Marine Aquaculture.

“It’s an important part of our coastal economy,” he said. To that end, many of the recommendations seek to make aquaculture regulation simpler and more efficient. Some recommendations, however, have been criticized as liberalizing the state’s rules at the expense of local communities and the environment, or unfairly burdening the struggling industry.

More than 40 people attended a public hearing Wednesday in the Augusta Civic Center on a broad bill, LD 1857, which seeks to make dozens of changes to the state’s aquaculture management rules. Among the most controversial proposals Wednesday was a change that would double the maximum acreage of leases that can be held by a single fish or shellfish farm, from 250 to 500 acres. While the size of leases will not change, farms would be allowed to hold more of them.

The fishing community worried that an increased aquaculture footprint could cut into fishing grounds.

“True fisheries is a balance,” said Robert Ray, a lobsterman and clam digger from the Deer Isle-Stonington area who said he feared for his job security with the growth of aquaculture. “Make sure everyone has a right to earn a living.”

Roger Fleming of the Conservation Law Foundation agreed, testifying that such a policy favors multinational aquaculture corporations over local fishermen. But the task force, the industry and the Department of Marine Resources all argued that fish farms need to increase their lease sites in order to perform the pen rotation and fallow periods that have been required by a federal judge, and now appear in the state policy.

“In order for a firm to stay in business, they need to have some flexibility,” Anderson said. Proposals that the Department of Marine Resources consider the number and density of local aquaculture sites, as well as the presence of conservation lands within 1,000 feet of a lease site before granting a lease, also raised concerns. The bill defines conservation lands as those owned by federal, state or municipal governments, or land and easements purchased through the Land for Maine’s Future fund. State agencies couldn’t criticize the second item fast enough, with representatives from both Land for Maine’s Future and the Department of Marine Resources testifying against the idea. Tim Glidden, who heads Land for Maine’s Future for the State Planning Office, worried that the program could suffer “unintended consequences,” and lose the chance to preserve valuable properties.

“There could be unnecessary opposition arising if you started to see concern about the possible negative impacts to the economic potential of coastal waters,” Glidden said, adding that he supports an amendment proposed by the Department of Marine Resources that would keep consideration of aquaculture’s impact on conservation lands but remove the mention of Land for Maine’s Future.

Industry spokesman Sebastian Belle was less willing to compromise, saying that the conservation lands policy could create “dead zones” that drastically reduce the area available for new aquaculture development. The state has not even mapped those waters that would fall within 1,000 feet of conservation land, he said.

“To make such a sweeping policy change without understanding how much of Maine’s waters will be affected is stunningly bad policy,” said Belle, who serves as executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association in Hallowell.

Claire Grindal of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association worried about a precedent being set that could someday drive other marine industries out of areas of the coast that are within sight of conserved lands.

Conservationists, such as Richard Knox of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, argued that the bill only asks that impacts be considered – the Department of Marine Resources commissioner would have every right to approve these leases, he said.

The Marine Resources Committee has scheduled four work sessions to discuss LD 1857 and the task force report: Monday, Feb. 23; Wednesday, Feb. 25; Monday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 3. All will be held in Room 437 of the State House.