This story is part of “Cultivating the Coast,” a special report that explores Harpswell’s rapidly growing aquaculture industry.
Just before the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, marine biologist Darcie Couture had set up a small oyster farm in Harpswell as a hobby, “or possibly a retirement plan.”
But as her income from other projects began to dry up because of the pandemic, Couture made a choice that altered her life’s trajectory.
“I threw all-in on the oyster farm, and that’s kind of what I’ve been doing — building it — since then,” she said in an interview.
Aquaculture has existed for centuries in various forms, but it’s a relatively recent phenomenon in Harpswell, according to research by the Yarmouth-based planning firm Viewshed.
Comprehensive data on aquaculture wasn’t available prior to 2018, but Harpswell’s 2013 Economic Development Plan stated only two aquaculture sites existed in town at that time: one experimental lease for oysters and a small, “limited-purpose” sea farm that had been in operation for five years.
Harpswell has seen a steady rise in the number of aquaculture leases in town waters since 2018. Today’s lease holders grow American oysters, blue mussels, hard and soft clams, sea scallops, seaweed and even sea urchins. The town currently has five “standard” in-water shellfish farms, four “experimental” farms and 98 limited-purpose farms, plus an oyster hatchery.
“There was a big boom in the last three years,” town Harbormaster Paul Plummer said in an interview. “I call it a modern-day gold rush.”
The industry’s growth has stirred conflicts among farmers, wild shellfish harvesters, fishermen and coastal landowners. Facing pressure from all sides, Harpswell officials have taken steps to address the growing friction.
For example, the town formed a working group in 2024 to study the causes of conflicts and meet with aquaculture lease applicants early in the process to prevent future disputes. It also created a digital map of fishing activity that applicants can review before deciding where to propose a farm.
Before the working group was formed, Plummer said, applications had started coming in so frequently that reviewing them left little time for his office to do other necessary work. “The job had turned from harbormaster into aquaculture reviewer — that’s what it felt like.”
The big picture
Traditional fishing still dwarfs aquaculture in terms of jobs and economic impact, both in Harpswell and Maine. But the trend lines look very different. Aquaculture is growing steadily, while fishery landings and employment are stagnant or on the decline.
In 2024, Maine’s commercial fishermen landed roughly $710 million worth of seafood — a 12% increase over 2023 — driven largely by lobster, at $528 million. But the volume of landings decreased by about 11% from 2023 and was down nearly 23% from a recent peak in 2021.
According to the Maine Aquaculture Association, Maine aquaculture generates $85 million to $110 million in annual sales, mostly from large finfish farms, which Harpswell doesn’t have.
Farmed shellfish brought in more than $18 million in 2024, up 2% from the previous year and 23% from 2021, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources data. Farmed oysters accounted for $14.2 million.
In 2020, Maine’s wild fisheries — including lobstering — employed about 4,500 people, plus another 1,700 who work for buyers and processors, totaling roughly 7,000 jobs, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Since 1997, the number of licensed commercial lobstermen in Maine has fallen by 27%, from 7,100 to under 5,200 in 2024, according to the state Department of Marine Resources.
The number actively fishing is even lower, falling from 4,506 in 2016 to 3,667 in 2023 — an 18% decline. Access to the fishery is tightly controlled, and new licenses are only granted when existing ones are retired.
Aquaculture employed about 620 people in 2020, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, but that number is expected to nearly double to 1,175 by 2030 and is likely at least 900 today. Seaweed and oyster farming have seen particularly rapid growth because of low startup costs, strong market demand and ecological benefits.
The barrier to entry is much lower for aquaculture in general, with minimal up-front costs and no apprenticeship requirement like there is for a commercial fishing license. Most lease applicants only pay a $100 fee to the state and, if approved, are charged rent based on the size of the site. Larger, “standard” leases cost $1,500 to $2,000 plus $100 per acre annually.
Many sea farmers — about one in six — are commercial fishermen who farm during the offseason to supplement their income, according to the Maine Aquaculture Association. More than 99% of Maine sea farms are family-owned. The state’s farms produce at least 25 species of finfish, shellfish and sea vegetables.
Maine has 118 active standard aquaculture leases, which can last up to 20 years, according to the most recent statewide data. In addition, there are 43 active experimental leases, which are typically smaller — up to 4 acres — and intended for either commercial or scientific research.
The state also has issued 773 limited-purpose aquaculture licenses in the past year. Licenses cover just 400 square feet, last only a year, and are used by growers who want to test a location before seeking a lease. More than one-eighth of those are in Harpswell.
Why Harpswell?
Harpswell’s 216 miles of jagged, island-dotted coastline provide an abundance of sheltered coves, tidal inlets and protected bays — ideal conditions for aquaculture.
These areas offer calm, well-flushed waters ideal for growing oysters, mussels, seaweed and other species. The town’s long tradition of working waterfronts and access to clean, nutrient-rich marine environments have made it an increasingly attractive location for both small-scale and commercial aquaculture.
Sea farmer Seth White chose Harpswell to experiment with growing oysters, seaweed and sea urchins all at the same site.
“Oysters are my moneymakers, so I can make sure I still have an income,” he said, “but my absolute goal is to minimize my waste and use it to grow seaweed that I can feed to sea urchins, because I see a market for (them) here.”
White, who has a master’s degree in aquaculture, started out working for Mere Point Oyster Co. in Brunswick in 2020, but eventually decided to strike out on his own.
Mere Point’s 40-acre lease application in 2019 drew the ire of many wild harvesters and coastal landowners, who argued the proposed lease area was too large and would crowd out other harvesters and hurt the environment. The lease was ultimately approved, but at a reduced size of 34.5 acres.
The largest lease in Harpswell is 17.4 acres, split between Harpswell and Brunswick in Middle Bay. It is held by Timothy Johnson, whose 2023 application to farm oysters and quahogs, or hard clams, encountered similar pushback but was also approved by the state.
Most of Harpswell’s larger farms are 3 to 4 acres, and the vast majority of small farms consist of one or more 20-by-20-foot squares.
Some advocates noted that while aquaculture offers a more accessible career than commercial fishing, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sea farmers work in all types of weather conditions and can expect to “stoop, bend, kneel, twist, and squat 30 percent of the time,” according to a recent Mere Point job listing.
“It’s very hard work,” said Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. “It’s often very dirty work.”
Future ‘complicated,’ but plenty of opportunity
Dana Morse said the outlook for aquaculture in Maine is “varied, nuanced and complicated, because it’s not just one thing.”
Morse co-owns Iron Island Oysters, part of the New Meadows River Shellfish Co-op, which was founded in 2020 in Cundy’s Harbor. He also works as senior extension program manager and aquaculture lead for the Maine Sea Grant program at the University of Maine.
“It’s a mixture of education, outreach, tech transfer and applied research,” Morse said in an interview. “So that means I move between groups and constituencies like commercial fishermen, shellfish farmers, regulators, scientists, community groups and members of the public.”
Farmed shellfish appears to have a bright future in Maine, Morse said. The state’s varied marine environment supports a range of species and production methods, and its reputation for high-quality seafood gives producers a strong marketing advantage. “You could do a lot worse than go to market with the Maine brand,” he said.
When you combine that brand recognition with the institutional knowledge of Maine’s fishing community, its vibrant tourism economy and a thriving culinary scene, it adds up to a winning formula for aquaculture growth, Morse said.
Wild-caught fishery landings have stalled while demand for seafood continues to increase, he said. That opens up a real opportunity for aquaculture to fill the gap.
But there are also challenges, according to Morse. One is the high price of seafood. If the goal is to get more farmed seafood onto people’s plates, it’s going to take economies of scale to improve efficiency and profitability.
“We want to support operations at all scales, but generally speaking, it’s the larger operations that are usually able to sell at a lower price,” Morse said. “The smaller operators usually kind of have to sell at a higher price to stay profitable.”
Meanwhile, communities usually want to support small, local operations, he said, whereas the larger ones tend to draw most of the local criticism.
There’s no easy way to resolve that tension, Morse said. But the answer may lie in models like Georgetown Aquaculture, a cooperative founded in 2016 by Georgetown resident Pat Burns as a way to help local fishermen transition into aquaculture amid climate-driven declines in traditional fisheries.
Morse was an early adviser to the project. He said co-ops combine benefits of large and small operations in a way that could help the industry scale while staying rooted in community ownership and working waterfront values.
He also praised Harpswell for steps it has taken to balance competing interests when working with aquaculture lease applicants, including the convening of a working group to study the issue, followed by the creation of a standing Fisheries Committee.
“I think it’s really intriguing, the way that Harpswell has approached this discussion,” Morse said. “It’s just really impressive to see how they’re trying to rationalize these decisions that have to be made about a coastline that gets multiple uses — sometimes competing uses — (in a way) that provides better opportunity and access for people.”
This story is part of “Cultivating the Coast,” a special report that explores Harpswell’s rapidly growing aquaculture industry.
