BRUNSWICK, Maine — Maine is producing extra oysters than ever as a consequence of a rising variety of shellfish farms which have launched off its coast lately.
The state’s 2021 oyster harvest was the biggest and most beneficial in its historical past, in keeping with latest information from the Department of Marine Resources in Maine. The state’s haul of oysters, the overwhelming majority of which come from farms, grew by greater than 50% final 12 months to greater than 6 million kilos.
Maine’s oyster enterprise has made the state an even bigger participant within the nationwide trade that grows the dear shellfish, which had been valued at greater than $187 million in 2020.
Maine oysters had been value greater than $10 million on the docks final 12 months. Just a decade in the past, they had been value lower than $1.3 million. They’re now the fourth most beneficial marine useful resource within the state, the place lobster remains to be by far a very powerful seafood.
The presence of extra farms has led to criticism from some lobster fishermen, who worry dropping entry to productive fishing grounds. The state wants a complete plan for the way forward for shellfish farming or it’ll lose its coast, stated Crystal Canney, government director of Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation.
“We are seeing people treating this like a Wild West gold rush, and it’s irresponsible,” she stated.
On the opposite hand, the expansion of oysters is nice information for a state that has been making an attempt to diversify marine industries, stated Dan Devereaux, one of many house owners of Mere Point Oyster Company in Brunswick.
“As Mainers, we take advantage of the fact that we are up here and the seafood is so coveted outside the state,” he stated.
The progress of Maine oysters is occurring at a time when the nationwide oyster trade is diversifying. A decade in the past, about 60% of the worth of U.S. oysters got here from Washington and Louisiana, in keeping with information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Now, these states make up 27% of the worth, and industries have grown in states together with Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts and California, NOAA information stated.
There had been lower than 600 acres of shellfish farm leases in Maine in 2010 and there at the moment are about 1,000 acres, state data present.
The state stays a comparatively small producer within the nationwide oyster trade, however oysters from Maine are usually extra worthwhile than these from elsewhere, stated Sebastian Belle, government director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. Maine oyster farmers usually receives a commission 10-15% greater than these from different states, he stated.
“The demand for Maine oysters is incredibly strong, and has been for the last 10 years or so, but it seems like it’s getting stronger and stronger,” Belle stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”