Glenda Beal’s roots in lobstering run nearly as deep as her roots in the town that shares her name: Beals Island, Maine. Her husband and two sons are lobstermen, as were her father and uncle, both grandfathers and a few generations before that.

“Our economy runs on lobster fishing, predominantly,” said Beal, 60, a descendant of one of the island’s original settlers.

It’s a tough industry in which to make a living, Beal said, and the three salmon farming operations in nearby Eastern Bay only make it tougher. She said her community’s lobstermen have noticed barren and polluted waters, damaged gear, floating trash and, on one occasion, dead salmon washed up on their shorelines, and they believe aquaculture is to blame.

The corporation that owns these operations, Cooke Aquaculture, a Canadian multinational based in Saint John, New Brunswick, is being sued for business practices alleged to harm the environment, local fisheries and tourism.

“Having areas taken up by [a] large acreage of pens prevents fishermen from fishing in these traditional waters that they’ve always been able to use,” Beal said. “There isn’t a fisherman out there that likes it.”

That’s why Beals Island and a few other Maine towns have recently tried to exert more local control over whether and how aquaculture facilities operate in their waters.

The Growing Industry

Maine’s aquaculture industry contributed more than $200 million to the state’s economy in 2023, according to the Maine Aquaculture Association.

The largest company is Cooke Aquaculture, which has 24 active lease sites along Maine’s coastline, plus inland hatcheries and a processing facility, according to records on the state’s Department of Marine Resources website.

Cooke operates in 16 countries. Its Maine facilities primarily grow Atlantic salmon in open net pens, floating cages within a larger body of water. Each lease site has multiple pens that hold tens of thousands of salmon during their growth from juvenile to adult size.

Read the full article about Maine’s salmon farms and fishing by Sydney Cromwell at Inside Climate News.