Income Diversity and the Maine Seafood Producer

Just like fishermen throughout the nation and the world, the yearly cycle of the Maine fisherman has changed drastically in the last 25 years. One of the most profound changes is that regulations designed to protect stocks of fish and shellfish have set Maine's fishing men and women into boxes, often having to become single-species specialists, where before they were active in multiple fisheries. We all know someone who can say: "It used to be that I'd go scalloping and shrimping in the winter, dig clams on the side, fish a few lobsters, and go groundfishing when I could. Now, I'm shut out, and pretty much all I can do is go lobstering."


The effects of this pigeonholing are just as well known, ranging from economic hardship for fishing families, to having to fish harder and harder, just to stay ahead. Opportunities for diversifying have been few and far between, though the need to do so has remained.

In recent years, a handful of fishermen in Maine have found a way to diversify their income through becoming shellfish farmers. While aquaculture and fishing have not always gotten along, there are about 20 shellfish growers in Maine who are either still active fishermen, or who came from the fishing industry originally. In places like North Haven, Harpswell, Mount Desert, South Bristol, Brooksville, Machaisport, and Portland, fishermen have discovered a farmer living someplace inside, and have made a transition where 'Fisherman' includes both capture and culture. In places like Rhode Island, which has a rich commercial shellfishing history, probably 70% of the current aquaculturists are either active or former fishermen.

Back in 1999, I took part in a trip to Aomori Prefecture in Japan, together with several fishermen from Maine, as well as a processor, scientists and resource managers. We were investigating scallop production there, and ended up sitting down with a group of fishermen, at one of their cooperatives. When the talk got around to discussing the tension between aquaculture and wild harvest fishing, the Japanese fishermen looked confused – they didn't get what we were talking about. Eventually we came to understand that, for them, there has been no differentiation between fisherman and farmer for a long time now: those people are in fact the same person, and it all came down to just being a producer of seafood. Now, while Maine isn't Japan, it appears that this transition has been walking along slowly in our state for several years, and that it's likely to continue.

It's just as likely that getting into shellfish growing isn't going to be for every fisherman, but there are some good reasons why fishermen might want to try.

First of all, I'd argue that it's natural for some. There are those who say that hunters aren't farmers, and that's probably true to some extent. On the other hand, how many lobstermen have patted a short lobster, and tossed it over the rail saying 'See you next year." They know that with time and good management, they stand a chance of getting that lobster back in the trap when it's ready to go to market. There is some feeding involved, and observations made about health and disease, distribution and behavior. This is the essence of animal husbandry.

The other example of fishermen having a farmer living inside – even if they don't know it – comes from scallop spat collection right here in Maine. Over the years, we've worked with perhaps a couple hundred fishermen on spat collection for stock enhancement. One thing I notice is that when a guy hauls his spat collector up, and sees hundreds or thousands of seed scallops inside (and this does happen), he'll say at least one of two things. The first thing is that he (or she) will wonder is: who gets to fish on the scallops he's captured and reseeded? This is a natural inclination given the time and effort to collect them in the first place. The second thing that's usually said amounts to "Geez, I'd sure like to put these in a cage and grow a few out." That's the farmer speaking, and the businessman, too. So, I'm not in a rush to divide hunters and farmers just yet, they don't have to cancel one another out.

Fishing cooperatives are in a particularly strong position to be involved, and again, Maine leads in this area. Co-ops of course are member driven, so the organization exists to serve the individual fishermen, an important distinction when considering the Maine tradition of 'owner-operator' rather than 'corporate' on the waterfront. Co-ops market product efficiently, purchase materials more cheaply, and serve the many administrative functions that businesses need to survive. In this way, they can hold off the natural market forces that favor consolidation and growth (ie. 'AgriBiz'), and they can act big while staying member-focused. They can also stay connected to the customer, a big consideration in today's food market.

Make no mistake though, there are plenty of obstacles too, and the purpose of this article is not to turn all fishermen into shellfish growers. Space to grow shellfish will always be at a premium, although fishermen are in a great position to choose location well, and to fit in with other users. We also have too short a list of species to grow, and more diversity there would help. Eastern oysters are well proven, but do best in warmer waters than we have over much of the state. European oysters like colder waters and we have plenty of that, but they are tricky to grow; a project through the Downeast Institute is just beginning, that aims to work with fishermen on better husbandry and siting. Blue mussels are a solid product, though mussel farms typically take up more space than your average oyster farm, and require more in terms of capital and equipment. There are opportunities for hard clams (quahogs), scallops and razor clams, but it will be a while before they are fully developed. The good news in all this is that it's possible to start pretty small in the game, to gather knowledge and to test the economics. There is also a good network of technical, business and regulatory help out there, through Maine Dept. of Marine Resources, Maine Aquaculture Association, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, Downeast Institute, Maine Sea Grant (my own institution) and others.

It should be said that slow but solid growth in this transition is probably better than a boom – there are too many stories of booms going bust. There is no room for unprofessional producers, either in aquaculture or fishing, because the seafood industry has to survive on quality product, on safety to the consumer, and on sound business and environmental practices. Americans just don't eat enough seafood, and they demand too much in terms of quality and price to provide producers with a whole lot of wiggle room; and it takes both attention to detail and commitment to grow quality shellfish, just as it does to capture and market a top-shelf lobster. On the other hand, Maine has a spectacular reputation for seafood - this applies to products grown and caught - and the market for Maine-grown shellfish has traditionally been strong.

Overall, the world market for seafood is expected to draw more and more from aquaculture. The National Academy of Sciences notes that aquaculture already makes up more than 50% of global seafood production, and wild-caught seafood has apparently topped out at between 90-100 million metric tons (FAO); this seems to be the limit that the oceans can reasonably produce given current management. A growing population means that demand for seafood will continue to rise, and aquaculture is projected to fill this market.

As for space, there is something to be said for aquaculture: the roughly 700 acres in shellfish production in Maine produces about 3 million dollars in product, supporting over 50 on-the-water jobs. If you assume that a lobster trap in a densely-fished area is about 60 feet from its nearest trap, and that a fisherman has 600 traps, then that fishermen's traps cover roughly 38 acres, and about 18 fishermen cover 700-odd acres. So, in terms of jobs per unit area, aquaculture has something to recommend it, given our crowded coastline.

Shellfish aquaculture is by no means perfect. There are risks for invasive species and disease, and it's possible to overload an area so badly that problems arise. However, just like traditional agriculture and in other aspects of fishing, there are a host of good management practices that keep these risks to a minimum. Integration of fish, shellfish and seaweed (and seaweed also presents another large opportunity) may help to increase the resiliency of our heavily used coastal waters, and because they are filter feeders, shellfish promote good water quality.

More to the point though, what this industry might be able to provide is an opportunity for Maine's fishermen to diversify their income, to use their experience and their vessels, on a venture that can exist quite well with the existing fisheries.

Food for thought.