PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An environmental group has served a discover of intent to sue one of many world’s largest aquaculture firms for violations of the Clear Water Act in Maine — allegations the fish farmer ardently denies.
Conservation Regulation Basis contends Cooke Aquaculture’s salmon farming websites off the Maine coast pollute the state’s bays, the place lobster fishing is a key business. The farms encompass pens within the ocean the place Atlantic salmon are grown to be used as meals.
The Boston-based legislation basis acknowledged in its Thursday discover that it was suing Cooke in a Maine federal court docket to convey the corporate into compliance. It states that the corporate discharges pollution reminiscent of fish feces, useless fish and trash into Maine’s coastal waters.
“These monumental salmon cages are like sewage pipes to the marine setting,” stated Heather Govern, vice chairman for the muse’s clear air and water program. “Their stable waste smothers crops and ocean life whereas illness outbreaks and sea lice threaten close by endangered wild salmon.”
Cooke swiftly denied the allegations, and firm representatives stated the agency totally complies with the legal guidelines. The corporate, based mostly in New Brunswick, Canada, issued an announcement that stated the farms are “routinely inspected by state regulators and topic to common monitoring stories” to make sure compliance.
“Finfish aquaculture has coexisted with heritage fisheries, reminiscent of lobstering, in Maine waters for greater than 40 years. Lobster landings aren’t negatively affected by Atlantic salmon farms,” the corporate stated in an announcement.
Cooke is a worldwide big in aquaculture and describes itself because the world’s largest non-public family-owned seafood firm. It states on its web site that it operates in 14 nations.
Some environmental teams, together with the Sierra Membership, have focused Cooke over time with considerations in regards to the sustainability of its operations in Maine and elsewhere. Sebastian Belle, government director of the Maine Aquaculture Affiliation, stated Saturday that the Conservation Regulation Basis has labored with salmon farmers to develop environmental requirements, and the discover of intent to sue was a shock.
“Given the truth that CLF and the opposite teams related to the proposed swimsuit haven’t expressed any of their considerations to the farmers and that every one of them stand to financially profit, one has to marvel why farmers would ever work cooperatively with these teams to handle their considerations,” Belle stated.