Maine Ocean Farms is an aquaculture business based in Freeport Maine, focused on the cultivation of oysters. Since its founding in 2017 the operation has grown from four initial LPA licenses to a ten-acre standard lease with over two million oysters in cultivation. Steady annual growth in scale paired with a constant focus on refining processes and finding efficiencies has built a solid foundation of business development.
Through the growth of the business over the past eight years, the Maine Ocean Farm team has consistently sought solutions for operational sustainability. Two focal points of this effort have been the reduction in single use plastics and the reduction of direct carbon emissions. This talk will cover key moments of success, lessons learned, and next steps as both initiatives are in continual progress.
In looking to reduce the use of single use plastics, an internal audit of our operations highlighted the use of plastic harvest bags as the greatest occurance. Through the initial effort to find a plastic free solution, we partnered with a manufacturer in Austria, Packnatur, to develop a cellulose based mesh specifically designed for shellfish packaging. This beechwood fiber mesh is home compostable, biodegradable, and sourced from certified sustainable forests. Seeing an opportunity to diversify revenue streams, we founded Ocean Farm Supply to sell this Ocean Harvest Bag mesh and deliver a sustainable packaging solution to the market.
In the effort to reduce direct carbon emissions on the farm we have undertaken a pilot program to implement a custom-built workboat with a fully electric power train. The project incorporates the installation of two shoreside charging stations to achieve operational usability and range. In partnership with the power train manufacturer, charging station developer, vessel designer, and municipal advocacy group, this pilot project is intended to offer a case study of power transition for the industry and real time data collection.