The development of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for land-based marine finfish farming in Maryland has encountered obstacles. While one potential facility in Federalsburg, Maryland initially secured land and local government support, the commercial operation faced community opposition during the permitting process. Testimonies presented at town hall meetings highlighted concerns about the impact that land-based RAS would have on local waters, fisheries, and the community. UMD Extension Agent(s) observations of the testimonies provided by Eastern Shore communities revealed varied levels of knowledge regarding aquaculture and RAS. Some of the testimonies demonstrated the public’s low awareness of aquaculture practices, such as citing sea lice challenges common to net-pen culture and wrongly claiming that sea lice would occur with salmon raised in RAS. Questions/concerns about facility discharge water were also raised. Faced with these testimonies and the other questions/ concerns, the project elected to withdraw all permit and lease applications for the Federalsburg site and, instead, search for an alternative site in Maryland.
Following town hall observations, UMD Extension conducted a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions (KAP) assessment using online surveys targeting Maryland residents. The survey aimed to identify general familiarity with aquaculture and RAS, understand community attitudes towards RAS, and determine preferred information sources regarding aquaculture and RAS. Data collected from a total of 1,040 respondents provides a baseline for planning Extension programming at UMD and within the USDA-funded SAS2 project. It will also inform Maryland Sea Grant’s future extension efforts.
This presentation will provide an overview of land-based RAS efforts in Maryland, summaries of what was observed at public town halls, preliminary results of the survey data, and a discussion of plans including collaborative efforts with the University of Maine and potentially others .