Local sea farmers add oysters to roster - Mount Desert Islander mdislander.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mdislander.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scallops are big business in the U.S. The species makes up the fourth most valuable fishery in the country, bringing in $572 million domestically in 2019.
Mussel farm sees potential in scallops
Tony Gott strings scallops on a line with Acadia Aqua Farms’ new ear-hanging machine. The farm in Frenchman Bay is one of the few farms in the U.S. that is testing the Japanese method of growing scallops.
ISLANDER PHOTO BY ETHAN GENTER
BAR HARBOR In mid-May, Alex de Koning climbed down into the hold of the Stewardship, the former military landing craft that he and his family have used for years to help grow mussels in Frenchman Bay, and sat at what looked like a giant sewing machine.
He grabbed a pair of scallops that had just been pulled out of the farm’s nets, lined up the small notches near the bivalves’ hinge and stepped on a foot pedal.
Aquafarm seeks scallop lease
BAR HARBOR A Bar Harbor-based mussel grower is looking to expand its scallop farming in Frenchman Bay.
Acadia Aquafarms applied for a 68-acre lease halfway between Parker Point and Hancock Point to cultivate sea scallops with suspended gear. The company, owned by the de Koning family, currently grows mussels with five active leases and has two longlines on six 400-square foot leases for scallops, which are at the same location as the proposed lease site.
In its application to the Department of Marine Resources, Acadia Aquafarms said that its observed little commercial fishing in the area over the last couple years and the small amount of traps in the area could be set between the proposed lines, which would be at least 25 feet under water, with no problems.
Coastal study group idea sent back ashore
AUGUSTA A resolution that would have created a 25-member study group to research how best to balance new coastal development with environmental conservation was shot down by a legislative committee last week after concerns over the resolve’s vague language and strong objections from the aquaculture industry.
“I hear the intention, but we had masses of testimony raising a lot of concerns about the way it was written,” said state Rep. Joyce “Jay” Mccreight (D-Harpswell), a member of the Marine Resources Committee.
The resolution, LD 1211, was put forward by state Rep. Lynne Williams (D-Bar Harbor) to “create multi municipal communication, conflict resolution and cooperation” around the state’s bays and waterfront and give smaller towns more say over what happens in their region’s waters.