Residents vote overwhelmingly in favor of the moratorium on large-scale aquaculture operations.
By Stephanie Wittenbach
November 15, 2021
Fox Bangor
GOULDSBORO — The town of Gouldsboro held a special town meeting Monday night to vote whether to temporarily ban American Aquafarms from building a salmon farm in the town.
Residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the moratorium on large-scale aquaculture operations.
American Aquafarms is requesting to lease two large sites in Frenchman Bay for up to 20 years — a timeframe that has been under criticism by residents.
“I am completely fine with aquaculture, just on that scale and that bay it just seems like putting a cattle ranch at the Grand Canyon,” said resident Deiran Manning.
Democrat John Glowa, a candidate running for governor, said he is using his experience to help in the fight against the fish farm.
“I worked for the Maine DEP just under 30 years so I have a lot of experience on how the system works and how it doesn’t work,” said Glowa.
According to the Gouldsboro town board, the moratorium is retroactive to Sept. 16 and will last 180 days.