FRIENDS OF EASTERN BAY

is an organization of citizens dedicated to protecting the fishing waters, the environment, and the scenic beauty of the upper part of Frenchman’s Bay, off Mt Desert Island, the home of Acadia National Park.

We have been made aware of an accelerating amount of aquaculture permits submitted to The Maine Department of Marine Resources that directly impact our community.

Friends of Eastern Bay, as a group, are supportive of the people who live and work here and who, for generations, have contributed to the growing economy while striving to preserve the ecology of Mt. Desert Island and its waters. We welcome aqua farming enterprises that use proven methods, are of a reasonable scale to the surrounding body of water, do not impede navigation, fishing, or recreational boating, and leave no damage to the marine environment.

We recognize that progress is essential to our economic well-being as a community, yet we are concerned that inappropriately large industrial developments will strain the local marine eco-systems. Projects of such an invasive scale would be detrimental to all our citizens and seasonal visitors while profiting only a small group of commercial developers.

Eastern Bay is a pristine and small body of water. The damage of an out-sized commercial construction will remain long after the companies have left and the profits have been taken. The burden of that damage will be left to those who live here, make their livings here, and to succeeding generations who will never experience the beautiful bay as we know it today. Mainers have taken on the challenges of land conservation with great passion and impressive success. Why would we not take the same comprehensive approach with the ocean?

We call on every citizen of this part of the world:

1. To carefully examine the proposals being made to create large scale aquaculture farms and fin-fish breeding farms;

2. To scrutinize the record and past reputation of the firms applying for development permits to install industrial-sized tanks, water pumps, feeding systems, power-washing systems, and round-the-clock maintenance crews;

3. To evaluate, fairly and honestly, the benefits that such developments may provide to our communities, what the environmental risks of any such benefits are, and what long-term issues, beyond what the developers claim, might adversely impact the marine eco-systems in Eastern Bay, and indeed all Maine bays, for decades to come.

This organization is committed to rigorous evaluations of the proposed developments in Frenchman’s Bay and Eastern Bay. We seek to gather impartial and sound scientific review and provide it to the public. Our community must have all the facts to make a sensible judgment for the future of these waters.

Please join us!

Sincerely,

Friends of Eastern Bay