BAR HARBOR – The waters of Eastern Bay, a narrow estuary that divides Lamoine from the village of Salisbury Cove, might be a rich site for proposed mussel farm developments.

But neighboring landowners and other concerned residents want to know what kind of impact this form of aquaculture would have on their water quality, traditional fisheries and tranquil ocean view.

Residents have organized a mussel farm forum tonight and invited biologists, experts from the Maine Department of Marine Resources and authorities from the mussel farm industry to share information and answer questions.

“The forum isn’t a gripe session,” Mary Opdyke, of Salisbury Cove, said Monday. “The bottom line is that we want to learn about the mussel farm industry.”

Opdyke, an organizer of the forum, said that the idea to hold it was sparked in January when mussel-farming leases were proposed for the bay. A meeting about the proposed farms held at that time by the Bar Harbor harbor committee was well-attended and lasted hours, Opdyke said.

“The bottom line of what came of it is that there should be some bay management,” she said.

One expert who plans to speak at the forum is Dr. Carter Newell, a biologist with Great Eastern Mussel Farm, which is seeking two mussel aquaculture leases in Eastern Bay. The proposals are waiting for what Newell termed a “public scoping session” and a public hearing.

“We’ll talk about issues like sustainability, how the industry can be sustained at pretty much a small scale,” Newell said. “It can provide some jobs but not interfere with other fisheries, recreation or aesthetics.”

Unlike salmon aquaculture, mussel farming does not bring in mussels from away or introduce food into the bay.

Mussels are sensitive to clean water and act as “environmental sentinels,” he said.

“Shellfish farming in particular helps water quality because it filters out the algae,” he said. “If there’s an established shellfish farm … it tends to protect an area from inappropriate pollution.”

For Opdyke and other organizers, it’s important to ask questions about safety and environmental impact before mussel farms come to Eastern Bay.

“We should stop, think and listen,” she said of aquaculture projects.

The mussel farm forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Bar Harbor Municipal Building Auditorium at 93 Cottage St.