Project

Scallop Aquaculture Initiative

Paving the way forward for scallop aquaculture in Maine.

In January 2021, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine, and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. convened to form the Scallop Aquaculture Initiative (SAI), to take a holistic look at the current state of Atlantic Sea Scallop aquaculture in Maine. Backed by generous private funding, the SAI created an open-source document addressing the current state of the industry and identifying the underlying challenges and growth opportunities for the industry.

Project Goals:

Identify aquaculture enhancement best practices from around the world.
Identify the challenges and growth opportunities for scallop aquaculture in Maine.
Provide in-depth research and analysis on scallop aquaculture potential in an open-source report.

Des Fitzgerald, a longtime Maine aquaculture industry veteran and Entrepreneur in Residence with Maine Venture Fund, served as Project Manager for this report. He conducted all the research, interviews, and site visits that helped generate the open-source report below. Over the five-month period it took to generate this report, he identified aquaculture enhancement best practices from around the world.

Maine possesses many of these attributes, and with its 3 million acres of clean, cold coastal waters, it is uniquely positioned to develop marine aquaculture.