Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board

Maine has an opportunity to lead the nation in sustainable aquaculture innovation and technology. Achievements in this field support the national effort to reduce seafood trade deficits while increasing food security and supporting a new Blue Economy that increases climate resilience and ocean restoration.

• Goal 1: Research Objective
  Prioritize research in six areas: 1) aquatic veterinary services and products, 2) alternative feed technologies, 3) technology-based innovations, 4) marine and freshwater culture systems, 5) decision-support tools, and 6) triple- bottom-line sustainability.
• Goal 2: Enterprise Objective
  Expand sustainable aquaculture operations along Maine’s coast and help diversify coastal economies .
• Goal 3: Workforce Objective
  Sustain world-class aquaculture research facilities and educational programs to create a skilled aquaculture workforce.
• Goal 4: Climate Change Objective
  Assist the aquaculture industry, policymakers, consumers and natural resource managers in understanding and increasing coastal climate resilience through adaptation, mitigation, and decarbonization.

In 2019, at the national level, freshwater and marine aquaculture was valued at $1.5 billion, which is 24% of the value of domestic seafood products. In New England, aquaculture is the third most valuable fisheries sector. These operations are supported by a world-class research and technology sector. In Maine, aquaculture is one of seven targeted technology areas as detailed in the 2010 Maine Science and Technology Action Plan. In the past ten years, the state has experienced rapid growth in interest with investments in Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) companies and the shellfish and seaweed sectors. Along with this rapid development potential comes an opportunity for Maine to lead the nation in sustainable aquaculture innovation and technology that can both support the national effort to reduce seafood trade deficits while increasing food security, as well as supporting a new Blue Economy that increases climate resilience and ocean restoration while it reduces inequity in the sector.

The 2010 Science and Technology Plan listed Marine Technologies and Aquaculture as one of the seven targeted research sectors without much specificity in the research priorities. In the past ten years, extensive collaborative projects funded through Maine EPSCoR, USDA and NOAA, such as SEANET, RAS-N, SAS2 and the Maine Aquaculture Hub, have identified new research themes as the ecosystem and industry have evolved. More recently, these themes have been prioritized in-state and federal RFPs and are of growing interest to investors and consumers. To incorporate these priorities into this chapter, we have separated aquaculture from marine technology and subdivided the suggested research into six broad areas: aquatic veterinary services and products, alternative feed technologies, technology-based innovations, marine and freshwater culture systems, decision-support tools and research in triple bottom line sustainability. In addition to these research priorities, other initiatives have called attention to infrastructure and related research that supports Maine Aquaculture. For example, Maine Innovation Economy Action Plan calls for the general improvement of research infrastructure, the Maine Won’t Wait Climate Plan highlights climate resilience in the marine sector, and the Maine aquaculture Roadmap recommends increasing research coordination and planning capacity. The Maine Economic Development Plan as well as other state and federal workforce initiatives point to the aquaculture cluster as an area to increase training for high-quality jobs.

With 3,500 miles of tidal shoreline, Maine has incredible potential to expand existing farmed species along the coast. For example, with considerable research contributions from the research community, eastern oyster aquaculture has expanded from approximately $1 million in landed value in 2011 to $9.6 million in 2019. Most of this industry’s growth has occurred on the Damariscotta River, but new tools (such as satellite prospecting for new growing areas) are identifying areas for expansion. Additionally, sea vegetables, sea scallops, razor clams, soft shell clams, and mussels could become viable species for those looking to diversify their income. Mussel aquaculture revenue has almost quadrupled between 2011 and 2019, and between 2018 and 2019 the value of the marine algae harvest has also quadrupled.

However, shellfish and seaweed aquaculture are still a cottage industry with great potential for growth.

The opportunity for Maine to be a part of a global expansion of aquaculture and the national effort to reduce seafood trade deficits is underexploited, and the need for investment in research that increases sustainable aquaculture growth in the region is indisputable.

Opportunity and Objective

• Maine’s aquaculture sector annually contributes $80 million-$100 million farm gate and $153 million economic impact to the state’s economy (Maine Aquaculture Association, 2020).
• Aquaculture growth has the potential to meet multiple economic and social objectives.
• Blue Carbon as it relates to aquacultured species, especially macroalgae, has the potential to play a role in Maine’s goal for carbon neutrality by 2045.
• Increased R&D Infrastructure (e.g., pilot-scale RAS systems, pilot-scale shellfish and seaweed hatcheries, marine-based experiment stations, pilot-scale seafood processing facility) would add resilience, flexibility, knowledge support, and value to Maine’s entire seafood sector.
• The Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than 99% of the world’s oceans and these warming trends will affect marine species’ productivity, stock resilience, and disease prevalence in ways hat have not been fully evaluated. Therefore, developing multi-use predictive tools will strengthen the resilience of Maine’s fisheries in general, as well as help quantify impacts for other coastal sectors and infrastructure.
• Maine’s reliance on its lobster fishery, which in 2021 represented 82% of the value of all fisheries landings, has created a need for a diversity of other working waterfront opportunities and aquaculture offers a significant share of that potential.

Notable Maine Institutions and Organizations

• Bates College
• Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
• Bowdoin College
• Coastal Enterprises Inc.
• Colby College
• College of the Atlantic
• Downeast Institute
• Gulf of Maine Research Institute
• Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership
• Island Institute
• Maine Aquaculture Association
• Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center
• Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
• Maine Department of Marine Resources
• University of Maine (Aquaculture Research Institute, Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, Cooperative Extension, College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, Cooperative Extension, Darling Marine Center, Maine Sea Grant)
• University of New England
• University of Southern Maine
• USDA-ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center

Current Research

• NSF EPSCoR Maine-eDNA is a statewide, multi- institutional initiative establishing Maine as a national leader in environmental monitoring, ecological understanding, and sustainability of coastal ecosystems and fisheries, including aquaculture. (2019-2024)
  Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon SAS2 is a U.S./global partnership between academia and industry that will use a transdisciplinary, integrative systems-approach to foster the development of transformative, environmentally sustainable and economically feasible Atlantic salmon farming in the U.S. (2021-2025)
• Marine Rearing of Adult Atlantic Salmon will employ a novel rearing method to produce mature Atlantic salmon and deliver them to underutilized, priority habitat within the Penobscot River. This work cultivates a new partnership between Cooke Aquaculture, USDA, USFWS, NOAA, ARI, and the Penobscot Nation.
• Coast to Cow to Consumer: Marine Algae Use to Enhance Milk Production, Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Recover Nutrients aims to sustainably intensify U.S. dairy production by developing marine algae-based feed supplements for cattle. These additives can also reduce environmental impacts of dairy production by recapturing nutrients and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (2021-2025)
• Sea Grant Maine Aquaculture Hub is a multi-institutional Maine collaborative formed to help the aquaculture industry in Maine overcome barriers to growth through industry engagement, training, R&D funding and road map development. (2018-2024)
• SEAMaine (Seafood Economic Accelerator for Maine) is an industry-led initiative bringing together leaders in Maine’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and seafood economy. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, with match funding from the Maine Technology Institute and FocusMaine, the statewide initiative is developing a road map and action plan for economic growth, market and workforce development, and greater resiliency in Maine’s seafood economy. (Ongoing)
• USDA ARS Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement: Through this federal partnership, ARI works with the USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center in Franklin and Orono on the Genetic Improvement of North American Atlantic salmon and the eastern oyster for aquaculture production.
  Aquaculture Economic Impact Report: Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA) will update the Maine Aquaculture Economic Impact Analysis of 2016 to reflect recent growth. (2022)
• Aquaculture Occupational Standards: The occupational standards are intended to present education and training providers with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the specific technical skills and knowledge that are critical for the most common careers in each sector, standardize workforce training in the state, and establish an industry-led process to align training with workforce needs as the industry, and workforce needs, evolve. (Ongoing)
• Maine Aquaculture R&D Survey Report: MAIC, in collaboration with ARI, MAA, and MSG, has conducted an online R&D survey with a broad group of participants in the aquaculture sector for three biannual cycles. The survey guides the development of the Maine Aquaculture R&D and Education Summit. (2022)

Mid- and Long-Range Research Priority Areas

• Aquatic veterinary services and products (e.g., vaccines, biosecurity, probiotics): advancing novel research to develop aquatic animal health products, assisting Maine’s biotech companies to meet key commercialization objectives and improving aquatic animal health and genetics
• Alternative feed technologies (e.g., algal feeds, micro-encapsulation, alternative proteins): advancing sustainable feeds that rely less on wild caught fisheries or unsustainable land-based feeds for more efficient delivery, production, and nutritional value.
• Technology based innovations (e.g., land- based system designs, hatchery technology, AI applications, nanocellulose, sensor technology, nanobubble): developing technologies that increase energy and labor efficiencies, decrease waste output and increase resilience in the face of environmental change.
• Marine and freshwater culture systems (e.g., multi-trophic aquaculture systems, co-location with offshore wind, land-based, closed pen): diversifying and improving systems that increase where and how aquatic products can be grown to reduce environmental impacts, increase labor efficiency, reduce waste outputs, and maximize food safety.
• Decision-support tools (e.g., eDNA monitoring, ecosystem services, nearshore monitoring systems, ecosystem models): assisting managers and policymakers in understanding resource trends, farm siting and permitting, carrying capacity and environmental uncertainty.
• Triple bottom line sustainability research (e.g., ecosystem services, community acceptance, environmental impacts, cultural diversity, economic and rural development research and climate resilience): preparing and adapting aquaculture to changing social, economic and environmental parameters while quantifying and improving diversity within the sector, ecosystem services, and restorative practices.

Economic Impact

• FocusMaine predicts Maine aquaculture exports will net $230 million–$800 million by 2025.
• Valuation of blue carbon storage potential and other ecosystem services leads to greater additive economic impacts.
• Multiplier effects from marine research sector
• Development of the Maine sustainable seafood brand will increase demand across the seafood sectors .
• Increased rural community and tribal career opportunities.
• World-renown research capacity attracts international investment .
• More resilient coasts decrease potential economic impacts of climate change and changes in other fisheries.