The University of Maine is designing an aquaculture center that would expand research and provide workforce training to meet growing industry needs in the state.
The 15,000-square-foot center, which UMaine is still designing and would be on the Orono campus, would include tanks and other equipment resembling a recirculating aquaculture system, a fish-farming technology that recycles water and is considered more environmentally friendly than traditional methods. There will be classrooms and small laboratories for undergraduate capstone projects and studying subjects like feed development.
The Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center, estimated to cost about $10 million, is a response to fish farm proposals popping up around the state, including in Millinocket, Jonesport and other towns. These operations will need trained workers, including biologists, engineers and technicians.
The new building also would replace an aquaculture research center that was housed in an old chicken barn on campus and was demolished last spring. UMaine hopes to break ground in the fall.
“What we’ve heard from the aquaculture industry is that they would like students to be trained on systems that resemble what they actually have in place,” said Deborah Bouchard, director of UMaine’s Aquaculture Research Institute. “Our facility will be much smaller, but it will give students hands-on, technical experience.”
Tanks and other features in the center will be flexible to meet the needs of many groups, Bouchard said. Faculty and students will be able to conduct research, but K-12 classes interested in a field trip also could spend time there.
UMaine sees the aquaculture center as a chance to collaborate with Maine’s community colleges. For example, students interested in engineering might want to experiment with aquaculture systems to understand how they’re built and how to repair them when something breaks, she said.
Other groups likely to use the space include students involved in the Aquaculture Research Institute’s internships and externships, where they spend 12 weeks working for an aquaculture company or nonprofit.
Workforce training is already underway, but the aquaculture center will expand UMaine’s offerings, said Meggan Dwyer, the institute’s associate director. Weeklong training sessions are open to anyone with a high school diploma and created to address needs in Maine’s aquaculture workforce. It gives people a look at entry-level jobs in the sector and earns them micro-credentials in sustainable aquaculture.
On the research side, the university’s hope is to discover information that pushes the aquaculture industry forward in a sustainable way, Dwyer said. That means energy-efficient strategies for farming fish, but also sustaining Maine’s economy, she said.
“It’s going to fill a gap in the existing University of Maine infrastructure and provide much-needed training space,” Bouchard said. “There will be a focus on real fish, real systems and real problem-solving.”
Other facilities include the Walpole-based Darling Marine Center, a laboratory focused on coastal and marine ecosystems, and Franklin-based Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, an incubator facility where start-up companies can use the recirculating technology.
Kingfish Maine, which has proposed a land-based fish farm in Jonesport, is one of those companies, and it is using the facility to cultivate Dutch yellowtail.
UMaine has already secured $3.5 million through the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and is counting on federal funds to cover the rest. Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate’s Appropriations Committee endorsed a bill including $7 million for the project championed by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the panel. It will next head to the Senate and House of Representatives for votes.