Provided by Organic Consumers Fund
The developers of today’s salmon aquaculture often claim that their industry is “sustainable.” In response to concerns regarding the dangers of open-net salmon pens—where feces, chemicals, parasites and disease are directly transmitted into the bodies of water in which they are located—certain companies are moving their salmon farms on land to “closed-containment” models.
But are these farmed Atlantic salmon any more nutritious or sustainable than farmed land-animals? Is salmon farming really helping to feed a hungry world?
Nordic Aquafarms (NAF), a Norway-based company that
Read moreWith their immune systems compromised by toxins such as PCBs, the Gulf of Maine marine mammals are susceptible to disease. As the number of dead and stranded seals washing up on southern Maine beaches rises by the day, researchers are linking the sudden die-off to decades of chemical pollution that made the seal population vulnerable to toxins and disease
Read moreBELFAST — Citing improper municipal process and failure to follow citizen participation procedures, two Belfast residents filed a complaint against the city, and cite the Belfast Water District and Nordic Aquafarms, Inc., a privately owned Norwegian-based business, as parties in interest. Nordic Aquafarms wants to site a land-based indoor salmon farm on 40 acres that currently belongs to the water district and private landowner Sam Cassida.
Ellie Daniels and Donna Broderick live on property abutting the 40-acre parcel in question, which is currently wooded and is adjacent to the
Read moreWhat: Local Citizens for Smart Growth Press Conference followed by Public Hearing
When: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Troy Howard Middle School, 173 Lincolnville Ave., Belfast, ME
Why: To discuss the lawsuit against Belfast, and plans for Nordic Aquafarms factory farm
A Norway-based company wants to build a 40-acre land-based salmon factory farm, in Belfast, Maine. And Belfast city officials are keen to green light the $450 - $550-million project.
But a group of local citizens—Local Citizens for SMART Growth—have a lot of questions about whether the project is good for the environment, good for their city, or good for the state of Maine.
Editor's note: This open letter to the mayor and city council members of Belfast, Maine, expresses the opinion of Belfast resident Lawrence Reichard on a 40-acre salmon factory farm proposed by Norway-based Nordic Aquafarms. More about the project here.
To the Mayor and City Council:
On behalf of many of my fellow Belfast citizens, I'm sorry that democracy is inconvenient for you. I apologize.
But you see, we live here. This is our home. And we
Read moreAnalysis of proposed $150-million salmon factory farm in Belfast, Maine
Scale of the project: The land-based industrial fish farm being planned by Nordic Aqua Farms (NAF) would be one of the largest in the world, raising between 25,000 and 30,000 tons of salmon a year at full production. Many questions about the operation of such a facility can only be answered in theoretical models. A land-based industrial salmon farm of this magnitude has not been built and is not in operation at this point in time.
Siting and Zoning of the
Read moreOn Wednesday in Maine, the House voted 109-39 and the Senate voted 28-6 to override Governor Paul LePage's veto, poking a thumb in the governor's eye and setting the state on a path to the legal sale and production of recreational marijuana some 18 months after voters approved it.
Read moreThe Source Award is not the first time Neil Lash’s work has been recognized, by any means. In 2017 he received a National Award of Excellence from the National Garden Clubs, and in 2015, his students won a $20,000 grant from Seeds of Change, an organic seed company (they used the money to buy a new walk-in freezer to store the precious seeds). In early May, a film crew from John’s Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future will come to Waldoboro to shoot footage for a documentary about sustainability and food systems.
Read morePORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A pair of U.S. senators is introducing legislation designed to improve organic farming research.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine say their legislation would reauthorize and incrementally increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative.
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