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Heather Govern is vice president of clean air and water at the Conservation Law Foundation.
Maine’s pristine coastal waters have long been a lifeline for local communities, from fishermen and lobstermen to tourism-driven businesses that rely on healthy, vibrant ecosystems. But a growing threat lurks beneath the surface in the form of industrial-scale salmon farms, which, despite their promise of providing cheaper, mass-produced fish, come with significant environmental costs that are too often disregarded. The damage to Maine’s waters — and the livelihoods that depend on them — are becoming impossible to ignore.
The business of breeding salmon, and particularly the industrial operations led by companies like Cooke Aquaculture, has grown rapidly in recent years and that trend is expected to continue. The practice involves raising large quantities of fish in crowded net pens anchored in open water. In Maine, Cooke Aquaculture grows millions of salmon in these floating cages, which are spread across 13 active sites in the state. But these operations come with serious environmental consequences, many of which are largely unregulated and unaccounted for by current oversight systems.
The most obvious environmental risk posed by salmon farms is the pollution they generate. As these growing fish are confined to tight, crowded spaces, their waste — along with uneaten food, dead fish, and chemicals — piles up at the bottom of the cages. This waste creates thick layers of toxic sludge that can smother the ocean floor and kill vital marine life, including the food sources for lobsters and bottom-dwelling fish like flounder, cod, and haddock. For Maine’s lobstermen, who depend on clean water and a healthy ecosystem to make their living, this can be a devastating blow.
The environmental impacts don’t stop there. The crowded, disease-prone conditions inside salmon cages lead to the rapid spread parasites like sea lice and diseases that are harmful to both farmed and wild fish populations. These diseases and parasites can escape the cages and infect wild fish, including the already-endangered wild Atlantic salmon. When wild salmon become infected or attacked by sea lice, their chances of survival and reproduction plummet. The long-term effects of these outbreaks could mean the decimation of wild salmon populations, which have already been in sharp decline for decades.
Adding to the chaos, holes periodically develop in the salmon cages due to weather exposure, predator attacks, or general wear and tear. These breaches allow farmed salmon to escape into the wild, where they can interbreed with wild populations. The result is a further weakening of the genetic integrity of wild salmon stocks, reducing their ability to thrive in their natural habitat.
Despite these risks, regulations governing the salmon farming industry in Maine remain woefully inadequate, with insufficient oversight from state and federal agencies. While Maine does have laws on the books to protect its waters, these laws are not always enforced in the context of industrial aquaculture.
This is why the recent action taken by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is so critical. CLF filed a notice of intent to sue Cooke Aquaculture for violations of the Clean Water Act at its Maine operations. The lawsuit targets the company’s discharges of fish feces, uneaten food, chemicals, diseases, sea lice, and trash, which contribute to the pollution of Maine’s iconic waters and the build-up of toxic sludge on the seafloor.
To be clear, CLF is suing to hold a multinational corporation accountable and defend Maine’s right to a clean, healthy environment, not trying to shutter business. In fact, to comply with the law, we believe Cooke would need to hire more employees and experts to increase its monitoring and inspections, properly maintain and clean its equipment, and mitigate the impact on the environment.
We should all view these enormous salmon cages as sewage pipes to the marine environment. And, if we allow this practice to continue unchecked, we risk turning Maine’s pristine waters into nothing more than industrial wastelands, poisoned by waste and diseased fish.
Protecting our environment isn’t just about saving a few species — it’s about safeguarding the health of our communities and our economy. We believe we need stronger regulations, greater accountability, and more transparency from companies like Cooke Aquaculture to ensure that Maine’s waters — and the people who depend on them — are not sacrificed for the sake of industrial profit.