FOBHB continues to advocate for the bay by reviewing and commenting on aquaculture permits, wastewater discharge permits, and agency rule making. Check this page often for information about what is happening both locally and globally in finfish aquaculture.

FOBHB Responds to Scrag Island Discharge Permit
IN Febraury 2010, FOBHB submitted a letter to DEP oppoisng the discharge permit for the Scrag Island aquaculture site by Atlantic Salmon of Maine LLC becasue we are not confident they will comply with the terms and conditions of the permit. With 27 violations, Atlantic Salmon of Maine, was one of the top ten violators of the Clean Water Act in Maine between 2004 and 2007. Read the letter here

See related Letter to the Editor from FOBHB here

Pending Leases
This DMR page lists the pending finfish and shellfish aquaculture leases before the Department, and allows copies of complete applications to be downloaded as pdf files. http://www.maine.gov/dmr/aquaculture/pending_aquaculture_leases.htm

Recent DMR Aquaculture Rule Changes
Click here for DMR Rule-Making Webpage

NOTICE OF AGENCY RULE-MAKING PROPOSAL:
Chapter 2.10(6) & 2.64(7)(C) Minimum Finfish Lease Site Separation - Repeal
"The minimum finfish lease site separation of 2,000 feet is proposed to be repealed, based on the Department’s determination that requirements for separation between sites may best be established taking into account the circumstances of the individual sites, existing fish health regulations in Chapter 24, the Bay Management Agreement of 2002 signed by all current finfish leaseholders, the advice of the Fish Health technical Committee and lease decision criteria that require consideration of the number, density and proximity of other lease sites." Read More.

The next step in the rulemaking process for proposed rules is for the DMR Advisory Council to take it up for their consideration and vote at their next meeting Feb 17.  The agenda materials are also available online at the following link: and again select to open the pdf file under the item labeled Chapter 2.10.

MDEP Waste Discharge Permit Applications
A permit is required for the direct or indirect discharge of pollutants to waters of the State pursuant to Water Pollution Control, 38 M.R.S.A. § 413. The Department may issue a general permit authorizing the discharge of certain pollutants pursuant to 06-096 CMR 529. The similarity of discharges from salmon aquaculture facilities has prompted the Department to issue this General Permit for those facilities located in Class SB or SC waters east of Naskeag Point in Brooklin, except those waters in the area north of a line from Schoodic Point in Winter Harbor to Baker Island in Cranberry Isles, then west to Naskeag Point in Brooklin, Maine. Read more at the DEP General Permit website....

Recent Articles
CNN Health
January 8, 2010
Is farm-raised salmon as healthy as wild? 
"Nearly all salmon Americans eat are farm-raised -- grown in dense-packed pens near ocean shores, fed fish meal that can be polluted with toxic PCB chemicals, awash in excrement flushed out to sea and infused with antibiotics to combat unsanitary conditions."
Read More at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/expert.q.a/01/08/salmon.fresh.farmed.jampolis/index.html?iref=allsearch

Baltimore Sun 
January 27, 2010
Target goes wild for salmon
"Target has announced it's stopped selling farmed salmon in its stores nationwide, and will carry only wild-caught Alaskan salmon from now on.... Many salmon farms produce pollution, the store's statement pointed out. They often release chemicals, parasites and non-native farmed fish into the open water, where they can affect natural habitat and the native salmon in surrounding areas. "
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/green/2010/01/target_to_drop_farmed_salmon.html

National Geographic
February 2010
Patagonia's Peril
"Like nearly every form of concentrated animal agriculture, salmon aquaculture creates an excess of waste. Here salmon farms deaden the water, creating anoxic conditions, and have led to the spread of a lethal salmon virus called infectious salmon anemia."
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/02/patagonia/klinkenborg-text/4