The University of Maine is getting $3.5 million in federal funds to boost the flow of seawater at its aquaculture research and business incubator site in Franklin.
Steve Eddy, director of UMaine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, said that the ability to attract research partners to the eastern shore of Taunton Bay in Hancock County is limited by an inadequate supply of seawater to the site. Though there have been improvements to the seawater intake system over the years since UMaine acquired the former fish farm in 1999, the site has expanded to the point where it needs a more robust supply.
“The seawater intake was pretty primitive,” Eddy said, adding that longer pipes that could draw water in at low tide were installed in 2002. “That was fine for a few years, but now there’s a serious bottleneck.”
The UMaine facility, which shares the intake system with an adjacent federal aquaculture research site run by USDA, has benefitted in recent years by research partners, such as American Unagi, that largely used freshwater in their startup operations, Eddy said.
But the eel aquaculture firm has recently relocated to its own production facility in Waldoboro, and any new research partners are more likely to need salt water, Eddy said.
One company is working to develop a salmon broodstock for aquaculture firms looking to build land-based fish farms in Maine, and might need space at CCAR, Eddy said. He declined to name the company but said it is hoping to build its own facility. In the meantime, it might use the Franklin site temporarily.
Kingfish, which plans to build a land-based farm for yellowtail in Jonesport, already is using CCAR to develop its broodstock, he said.
Meanwhile there are two large indoor tanks at CCAR that each hold 300,000 gallons of water that aren’t being used now. Even though all of UMaine’s research partners in Franklin filter and recycle a significant amount of the water they draw from the bay, the current intake and pump system is insufficient for those tanks, Eddy said.
“If we use one of those, we’ll definitely need more salt water than we have now,” he said. “We’re right at the limit.”
Eddy said the investment in boosting the research and business incubation capacity in Franklin is money well spent. He gave credit to U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King for making sure the funding was included in the recent omnibus spending bill approved by Congress.
“I believe in aquaculture as a sustainable food system,” Eddy said. “It’s one that we desperately need as seafood consumption increases in the U.S. and around the world.”
Maine is well suited for aquaculture because of its natural resources and its experience in the field, Eddy said. The establishment of Maine’s aquaculture oyster industry and the more recent growth of the state’s seaweed sector are two examples of how Maine has benefitted from the industry.
“It’s not something from which you’re going to get a big, immediate economic payoff,” he said. “I think everyone recognizes how important a role aquaculture can play in our economy.”
It often takes years for a startup aquaculture firm to get a solid footing, Eddy said.
USDA, which is partnering in the upgrade project, has begun working on engineering plans for installing more powerful pumps and larger pipes that will serve the adjacent sites, he said.
There is no official timeline for completing the work, but Eddy hopes the new system will be up and running within 12 to 18 months.
