Commissioner Keliher,

For 40 years the Downeast Salmon Federation has worked with communities to restore Atlantic salmon and their home rivers in Eastern Maine. We, alongside the Maine DMR, have invested countless hours and millions of dollars to make sure that future generations will once again see our rivers filled with wild Atlantic salmon.

Good afternoon. I am Kevin Schneider, superintendent at Acadia National Park and am here today to speak on behalf of the National Park Service. We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments on the two proposed American Aquafarm lease applications in Frenchman Bay.

(GOULDSBORO, Maine) – Following a recent visit to the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, opponents of a massive industrial aquaculture project proposed for Prospect Harbor and nearby Frenchman Bay have sent a letter urging her to oppose the project or at least join with the many conservation groups and individuals who have already asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project.

(BAR HARBOR, Maine) – With Bar Harbor lobstermen solidly opposing a massive salmon farm proposed for Frenchman Bay, the Bar Harbor town council voted unanimously July 15th to seek intervener status in the state review of American Aquafarms lease applications to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation(PMFHF) was one of several groups under the umbrella of Frenchman Bay United that participated in an informational session in Prospect Harbor recently regarding the proposed American Aquafarms in-water net pen salmon project. There is a ton of interest regarding what this could mean for the entire state and the lobster industry.

Dear Mr. Clement:

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation (PMFHF) along with a number of lobstermen and women is deeply concerned about the effects of the proposed American Aquafarms in water salmon pen aquaculture leases in Frenchman Bay at the foot of Acadia National Park.

(Augusta, Me) – American Aquafarms, a company led by a Norwegian businessman with a troubled financial past, has been accepted for consideration by the Department of Marine Resources for exclusive use with the state for 30 pens of in-water salmon aquaculture in Frenchman Bay adjacent to Acadia National Park. The application was immediately met with strong opposition from local lobstermen and women, and numerous groups opposing the project.

Originally Published in the Mount Desert Islander

To the Editor:

“Let’s get the record straight,” pleads Sebastian Belle (Islander, April 29), the executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. But the argument he sets out is far from straightforward.

Try as he might to frame the controversy as “wealthy landowners” versus “the working waterfront,” preventing the industrialization of Maine’s coastal communities is about a lot more than the people opposing it.

Good Afternoon,

Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation is actively working with 4 different groups in Frenchman Bay around opposing a large-scale aquaculture project. As you may be aware, there is a proposal for two aquaculture leases totaling more than a hundred acres for in-water salmon pens at the foot of Acadia National Park.

Letter to the Editor originally published in the Bangor Daily News

I lobster out of Lamoine and Frenchman Bay is one of my greatest fishing areas. I don’t understand how we have gotten to the point in Maine where we would want large scale industrial aquaculture in rich fishing grounds. But here we are entertaining 30 pens containing salmon to be raised in the ocean.