Humans have practiced aquaculture around the world for thousands of years. Aquaculture has been part of Maine’s food system for over a century.
Today, Maine’s aquatic farmers raise oysters, mussels, Atlantic salmon, seaweed, scallops, clams, trout, eels, and sea urchins in both freshwater and saltwater sea farms.
Why Aquaculture?
Sustainable Protein.
Seafood is one of the healthiest sources of protein in the world, and a number of analyses predict that demand for animal protein on the entire planet is going to double in the next 30 years.
Aquaculture presents an enormous opportunity to help meet that demand without inducing serious environmental harm.
Feeding the Planet.
Right now, over half of all the seafood in the world is produced with aquaculture, and that percentage is expected to grow.
Diversification.
Aquaculture is a supplement to wild fisheries – it helps stabilize the economy, creates jobs, and diversifies the working waterfront.
Local food production.
The US currently contributes over 14 billion dollars annually to our national trade deficit by importing 95% of our seafood. Locally grown aquaculture products from Maine are produced under some of the strictest regulations and best environmental conditions in the US.
Working Waterfront.
Maine’s sea farmers are helping preserve a heritage of working waterfronts and communities linked to the sea, and they are incentivized to keep our oceans, lakes, and waterways healthy and clean because healthy ecosystems with high water quality are a key ingredient in Maine’s sustainably grown, healthy seafood.
Conservation.
Shellfish aquaculture helps to conserve native fish, shellfish, and plant populations as well as to enhance dwindling stocks. Because young shellfish travel on water currents before settling down, they can help to establish natural shellfish beds that perform the important functions of filtering the water and establishing better growing conditions for other marine organisms. This adds to biodiversity, an important factor in stabilizing ecosystems.