STONINGTON, Maine (WABI) – Maine’s wild scallop harvest is still a few months away, but a group of fishermen in Penobscot Bay can fish scallops year-round thanks to Maine’s growing aquaculture industry.
“This just puts another tool in the toolbox to allow them to adapt. We’re not looking to be replaced. We just want the opportunity to adapt,” said scallop farmer, Marsden Brewer.
Marsden has been fishing off of Stonington for decades.
He and his son, Robert, have been learning more about scallop farming, setting their nets in Penobscot Bay.
Due to reduced stocks and an increase in commercial fishing regulations, this new way of doing business has given fishermen like Marsden hope for the future.
“This one is a little over three acres. It has got two 600-foot lines in it, plus the lines going to the anchors,” he said.
“They have moorings that go three to one down to a 2 1/2-ton granite block,” Robert explained. “We pick the spots to fish our lines where we’ve never been able to catch much for lobsters or crabs, so there’s no competition for the bottom.”
“We hold the lines down 20 feet in the water. We put weights on the bottom so they can’t get up, and that allows all the boat traffic to go over it,” Marsden said.
Marsden took a page out of Japan’s handbook on scallop farming.
He spent a week there learning how to grow and market scallops. He has brought that knowledge back home with him and is now sharing it with other commercial fishermen and policymakers.
Island Institute is one group helping fishermen like Marsden continue to make a living off the water.
It’s really important for the future of our coastal communities that we have people like Marsden starting these businesses, understanding what it takes to grow them and scale them up. As changes come to coastal communities in the lobster fishery, scallop aquaculture presents great promise for the state,” said Nick Battista, chief policy officer for Island Institute. “The ability to have extra income that is not dependent on the lobster fishery is important.”
Maine’s wild scallop harvest runs from December to April.
With the freedom to grow his own, Marsden and his son can harvest all year long.
“We still participate in the wild harvest in the wintertime because of the cold weather. You can’t freeze them, or they will die, but it has made it so I can scallop in state waters year-round,” said Marsden. “I’m too old to ever get rich at this. That’s the bottom line, but I’ll leave it to my son and that there is opportunity for coastal communities in the future.”
While Marsden is leading the way in aquaculture of sea scallops in the state, he plans to continue to share his knowledge with other fishermen looking to diversify the seafood harvesting business.
“If you look around and watch the guys that retire, couple of years, they’re done. For a fisherman, you keep going,” said Marsden.
Click here to learn more about their business, ‘PenBay Farmed Scallops.’
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