Allegra Zamore
April 21, 2022
WABI5
The proposal has been the source of controversy for groups like Frenchman Bay United who don’t want the project to continue.
GOULDSBORO, Maine (WABI) - Plans for a large scale fish farm in Frenchman Bay have come to a halt.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources terminated the application from American Aquafarms to build two 60 acre sites in the bay.
They say the company failed to secure a state-approved source of salmon eggs, and failed to show the hatchery met requirements of state law for fish health and genetics.
The proposal has been the source of controversy for groups like Frenchman Bay United who don’t want the project to continue.
While this puts a significant delay in the project, folks with Frenchman Bay United are worried the company will continue reapplying for the lease.
“Frenchman Bay United and dozens of our partners have convincingly made the case against this project and many substantive grounds. The adverse impact on the environment, the threat to our working waterfronts the threat to the tourism industry, the insult to the foundational ideas of Acadia National Park and the litany of unmentioned risks that could go enormously wrong, Mainers agree, this project is a bad deal for Maine,” said president of Frenchman Bay United Henry Sharpe.
We have reached out to American Aquafarms for comment but have not heard back.