Aquaculture & Maine Marine Living Resources

Bombazine Oysters: Sustainability on the half shell

WRITTEN BY JULIA BAYLY While hiking or driving alongside the New Meadows River in Brunswick, you might miss the active farming operation just beneath the tidal waters at the end of Casco Bay. But if you look closely, you will spot yellow corner buoys just offshore,…

The next generation of Aquaculture

WRITTEN BY WANDA CURTIS The Gulf of Maine Research Institute has trained 14 new employees for Maine’s aquaculture industry since 2018. The employees completed the GMRI Aquaculture Apprenticeship Program and are now employed by aquaculture businesses across Maine in shellfish and seaweed operations, according to Aquaculture…

Farming the mighty mollusk: Maine’s sustainable scallop future

WRITTEN BY JOANNA O’LEARY Confession: As a food critic, what I usually think about when I think about scallops is whether I will receive three or four in an entrée course and how they’ll be dressed. Lemon beurre blanc is a favorite. Since relocating to Maine,…

Business support programming at the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center

COURTESY OF MAINE AQUACULTURE INNOVATION CENTER Whether you’re just thinking about starting your own aquaculture operation or if you’re an established business, the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC) has a suite of business support programs and tools to assist you. MAIC also works closely with Maine’s…

Shell-ebrate bivalve Aquaculture!

COURTESY OF MAINE AQUACULTURE INNOVATION CENTER Imagine a tank filled with 50 gallons of seawater– the same volume as 50 jugs of milk. That is the amount of water a single Eastern oyster can filter in one day. Just consider how much water a whole reef–…

Feeding the furure

How Maine is shaping the next generation of sustainable Aquaculture. BY ANDREW BRADLEY, PE |. COURTESY OF SMRT ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS As the global demand for sustainable, high-protein food sources accelerates, the conversation around how we harvest our oceans is undergoing a massive transformation. For generations,…

Ocean farming training through Aquaculture in shared waters

COURTESY OF MAINE AQUACULTURE INNOVATION CENTER Over the past 13 years, more than 500 people have joined the Aquaculture in Shared Waters (AQSW) programs, a series of trainings across Maine focused on launching careers in ocean farming. These programs cover everything from the basic ‘what is…

The expert down the road

COURTESY OF MAINE SEA GRANT Two years ago, Neil Stanton, owner of Scruffy’s Cove Oyster Farm, noticed some odd black lines on his oysters’ shells. He didn’t know what they were, so he called Dana Morse, the guy who helped him get into oyster farming back…

Our coastal future is in the balance.

Aquaculture presents opportunity. COURTESY OF MAINE AQUACULTURE ASSOCIATION Maine stands at a crossroads, and the decisions we make today will determine what our coastal communities look like for the next generations. Working waterfronts have always been the iconic center of these communities. A changing ocean environment…

Gratitude for our sea farmers

COURTESY OF MAINE FARMED SEAFOOD COALITION Cultivating food for human consumption is among the most noble and important jobs in society. Harnessing the resources gifted to us by nature and turning them into delicious meals for our neighbors and visitors is a challenging task, and farmers—of…