Aquaculture taken off the warrant in Deer Isle

Select board pulls ordinance after public hearing debate

- BY WILL ROBINSON

The proposed aquaculture ordinance in Deer Isle was taken off the annual town meeting warrant by a unanimous vote of the select board. The decision came after audience members voiced widespread opposition to the proposal during a public hearing on February 13.

The select board had put the ordinance on the warrant for a town meeting vote in January. It was written and presented by the Portland-based nonprofit Protect Maine's Fishing Heritage Foundation, which has sponsored similar ordinances and aquaculture moratoriums in several towns along the coast.

Despite the freezing rain and snow outside, about 30 people crowded into the town hall for the event, with more attending on Zoom. Over the course of an hour, more than a dozen people spoke both for and against the proposal.

Officially called "New Industrial Scale Coastal Waters Aquaculture Ordinance," the proposed regulations would have established a new local permitting process for aquaculture operations encompassing over 5 acres in size.

Permits would be issued by the local planning board and enforcement would fall upon town officials. Potential aquaculture businesses would have to apply to both the already existing aquaculture leasing process, overseen by the Department of Marine Resources, and the local planning board.

Opponents of the ordinance included a mix of Deer Isle residents, businesses owners, local aquaculturists and representatives from the Maine Aquaculture Association, a nonprofit run by aquaculturists from around the state.

Several residents and business owners said they felt the ordinance could put the town at risk of a lawsuit. The DMR has publicly cautioned against the ordinance, saying the agency holds "exclusive jurisdiction" over the regulation of state waters. Both the town's attorney and the Maine Municipal Association have expressed similar legal opinions, according to Deer Isle Town Manager Jim Fisher.