A7HK2D North America, US, ME, Aerial. Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay.

Welcome to Friends of Frenchman Bay. Thanks for your interest. We need you!.

Frenchman Bay is a breathtaking and wild ecosystem, bound on two sides by Acadia National Park. Friends of Frenchman Bay is a group of people who live in towns around the Bay or visit this unique spot on earth. Our current primary efforts are to protect Frenchman Bay from proposed large scale industrial fish farming in the bay, and bring attention to the environmental degradation caused by the many mega cruise ships visiting the bay.  We value the dark starry skies, the marine life, the cold, clear waters, and clean air.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COxn4YYLw4_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Industrial Salmon Farm

We applaud the rejection of the AA permit in 2022 by the State of Maine, due to inadequacies in the salmon egg source portion of the application. AA pledges to come back with a new application for their project, and has purchased the land based component of their project.

  • “When built, American Aquafarms’ plant in Maine will be the world’s largest full-cycle aquaculture facility based on closed cages in the sea.”  (These are actually semi-closed, NOT closed containment)- quote from Intrafish trade publication 3/31/21 )

Save the Bay Flotilla   

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/23/magazine/are-sprawling-fish-farms-coming-swallow-maine/

 

Below are links- (first is the DMR Aquaculture lease criteria)

https://www.maine.gov/dmr/aquaculture/documents/decisioncriteria.pdf

Link to PDF Why we need to stop this:

https://44091146-201a-4fb7-83d1-6c55cd66b050.filesusr.com/ugd/cff342_c71241adc16d4287905697665b98b2db.pdf

https://friendsoffrenchmanbay.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/American-Aquafarms-opposition-update-6.30.21.pdf

NPCA fact sheet

Top concerns

https://friendsoffrenchmanbay.org/2021/04/save-the-bay-stop-the-fish-farm/

 
The DMR deemed the application complete initially, but complications regarding where the salmon eggs were coming from changed the application back to incomplete status.
The application was then rejected, as the plan for eggs did not meet DMR requirements.
AA asked they be given exemptions from the strict rules applying to current certification of egg suppliers.
(Here’s the answer AA gave regarding the source of salmon eggs. AA response:
American Aquafarms is confident that the eggs from AquaBounty will meet Chapter 24 requirements and
has attached a table from the preliminary review of the testing regime at AquaBounty supporting the
decision to move forward with AquaBounty as the egg supplier for the project.)
 
The DEP application was also terminated.
Here is a link to the very large volume of application materials: https://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/projects/american-aquafarms/applications/mepdes/   

 

We know that large scale fish farming in the bay would forever change the intrinsic natural qualities that make Frenchman Bay a beloved national treasure, and would threaten the generational livelihoods of lobstermen (and women) of the bay . Two Aquaculture sites of 60 and 60 acres, composed of 30 pens, each 150 feet wide (the green squares in this map), raising 66 million pounds of salmon annually, had been proposed for large industrialized salmon farms off the Porcupines and near bald rock.The company vows to try again with the application. No environmental assessments have been undertaken. Click on our Industrial Fin Fish Farm page to learn more: https://friendsoffrenchmanbay.org/industrial-fin-fish-farm/

Please contact us through our Facebook page or via the email icon on this page. Donations are accepted by donate button on this site or at Friends of Frenchman Bay, Box 53, Hancock, Maine, 04640.

We are an all volunteer Community Association.

We continue to stand against an outsized cruise ship pier previously proposed for Bar Harbor.

These gifts of unspoiled nature cannot be assessed in financial terms. “Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.” – Ansel Adams