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Bill Mook of Newcastle is the founder of Mook Sea Farm. He has been engaged in shellfish aquaculture for more than 40 years.
Maine’s vibrant working waterfronts have long been the central force shaping the way our coastal communities look and feel today. While not a new practice, aquatic farming in Maine has grown and diversified significantly in recent years; the total economic impact of aquaculture has nearly tripled since 2007. I started Mook Sea Farm on the Damariscotta River back in 1985, and our hatchery now produces about 100 million juvenile oysters (seed) annually for sale to other oyster growers along the East Coast from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic, and for our own cultivation of Moondancers™ and Mookie Blues™.
Shellfish aquaculture, one of the most sustainable forms of animal protein production, is inextricably linked to environmental conditions. The scientific evidence linking human actions to measurable changes in our climate and in ocean water chemistry is irrefutable and these changes are affecting us and other shellfish growers. We are increasingly facing heavy rainfall events resulting in growing area closures, devastating winds and storm surges on top of rising sea level. Warming waters are leading to the spread of both oyster pathogens, which put our product at risk, and human pathogens, which require costly measures to ensure consumer safety.
Understanding how pollution and climate change are affecting the oceans is vital to our industry, as our businesses are so dependent on a healthy marine environment. Programs like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Ocean Acidification Program, which studies the impacts of ocean acidification and how to adapt, are critical to increasing our farm’s resiliency as we face a changing environment. Unfortunately, House Republicans have proposed slashing funding in the FY24 budget for essential climate change and extreme weather research.
The current House proposal forbids NOAA from studying the climate’s effects on fisheries and would effectively zero out Coastal Zone Management grants, funding that helps states sustainably manage healthy and productive coasts and benefit the working waterfronts and surrounding communities. Restricting this money means the federal government will fall behind in understanding climate effects and improving communities’ resilience and Maine’s fisheries industry will suffer for it.
Congress agreed to maintain FY23 funding levels for non-defense agencies in the FY24 budget when they passed the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). Susan Collins, Maine’s senior senator and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, understands the vital role that federal funding plays in maintaining and supporting our state’s heritage industries. That’s why I’m urging her to remain steadfast in her commitment to preserve the funding levels passed in the Senate appropriations bills, reject any legislation that violates the negotiated terms of the FRA, and to encourage her colleagues to do the same.
As our oceans get warmer and more storms like the two recent January storms loom on the horizon, it’s essential that NOAA gets more funding, not less, to best support coastal communities, fisheries and hospitality businesses that depend on our oceans. We are living with climate change, and its impacts will continue to get more severe. If we are to protect our ocean ecosystem, fisheries and the fishing communities that rely on them, we must maintain funding for this vital research.
