Resources Database

List of the over 200 harbor masters and deputy harbor masters in The State of Maine Harbor Masters Association.

Social license to operate (SLO), a concept that describes community acceptance and approval of incoming industry, offers a lens for better understanding these barriers and an opportunity to identify strategies for successful development. Efforts to measure and predict social license have begun, but these efforts primarily focus on company actions and impacts. This study seeks to expand the utility of social license within the aquaculture sector by developing a preliminary quantitative framework that can predict a community’s willingness to issue SLO prior to siting.

Lists all upcoming aquaculture public meetings, hearings, and scoping sessions and give the date, time, town and location for them.

A variety of tenacious myths critical of marine aquaculture practiced in the United States have persisted for decades to be presented as facts to the public and Congress. The reality is U.S. fish and shellfish farmers culture aquatic animals and plants within a very complicated and expensive legal, regulatory, husbandry, and science-driven environment. We believe critics are unfamiliar with this environment or have erroneously assumed marine aquaculture-related environmental damage reported in other countries occurs in the United States.

After purchasing used shellfish production equipment, it is strongly recommended to thoroughly clean and disinfect the gear prior to use to limit the risk of introducing disease or invasive species. An easy-to-use process is as follows:

If you have been around this business for a while, you’ve probably watched some of the newcomers make the same mistakes you did when you were getting started. ECSGA Executive Director Bob Rheault decided he would try to think of as many of these common pitfalls as he could to help new growers avoid making the same costly blunders. Through the years he has continued to add to the list.

Animal protein production must increase by 40-50% to feed a projected global population of 9 billion by 2050. The United States can be a significant contributor to global seafood production due to its recognized: Rigorous regulatory framework to promote sustainable development, Advanced animal nutrition and health management, Efficient processing and distribution of high-quality seafood, and Unwavering technical innovation.

A look at the individual Maine farmers who make a living in the growing industry of Aquaculture.

When submitting a LPA application one of the details that can make or break your approval is your mooring system. Understanding and installing moorings that work for the load that aquaculture gear generates is crucial and creating an accurate and readable mooring system design in your application is key for your approval.

There are several ways in which birds interact with shellfish aquaculture. Birds can cause significant damage to crops through predation. Some birds fall into the category of protected resources and farmers have been variously accused of interfering with foraging, (either attracting or disturbing or both) and interfering with hunting. Birds can be attracted to aquaculture structures for roosting or foraging and their guano can impact water quality and trigger the need for growers to develop management plans under the National Shellfish Sanitation Plan.

This non-profit organization helps export Northeast food and agricultural products overseas since 1973. They provides a wide range of services to facilitate trade between local food suppliers and importers around the world including: export education, self-paced training & expert advice, customized export assistance, new market analysis, international marketing &branding, facilitate meetings with international buyers, and a cost-share funding program.

The report provides information on commercially relevant aspects of oyster production gear associated with each equipment type employed including, BST™ Crosshatch, BST™ Longline, OysterGro, Rack and Bag, & Seapa™. They tracked oyster survival, growth by season, shell morphology, worm presence, and cost estimates.

Oyster aquaculture, like any agriculture operation, has inherent risks with perils beyond growers’ control. However, coastal waters present challenges for oyster farmers in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes.

DMR welcomes and encourages comment on aquaculture lease applications. This explains the process, scoping sessions, submitting a comment, speaking at a public hearing and more.

Developed to help growers tap into selling to the foodservice market. Most small growers don’t have an advertising budget, but there are a number of marketing and public relations strategies that can be used to grow sales.