Maine
An environmental group files intent to sue a salmon farmer for pollution off Maine's coast
PORTLAND, Maine — An environmental organization has served a notice of intent to sue one of the world’s largest aquaculture companies for violations of the Clean Water Act in Maine — allegations the fish farmer ardently denies.
Conservation Law Foundation contends Cooke Aquaculture’s salmon farming sites off the Maine coast pollute the state’s bays, where lobster fishing is a key industry. The farms consist of pens in the ocean where Atlantic salmon are grown for use as food.
The Boston-based law foundation stated in its Thursday notice that it was suing Cooke in a Maine federal court to bring the company into compliance. It states that the company discharges pollutants such as fish feces, dead fish and trash into Maine’s coastal waters.
“These enormous salmon cages are like sewage pipes to the marine environment,” said Heather Govern, vice president for the foundation’s clean air and water program. “Their solid waste smothers plants and ocean life while disease outbreaks and sea lice threaten nearby endangered wild salmon.”
Cooke swiftly denied the allegations, and company representatives said the firm fully complies with the laws. The company, based in New Brunswick, Canada, issued a statement that said the farms are “routinely inspected by state regulators and subject to regular monitoring reports” to ensure compliance.
“Finfish aquaculture has coexisted with heritage fisheries, such as lobstering, in Maine waters for more than 40 years. Lobster landings are not negatively affected by Atlantic salmon farms,” the company said in a statement.
Cooke is a global giant in aquaculture and describes itself as the world’s largest private family-owned seafood company. It states on its website that it operates in 14 countries.
Some environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, have targeted Cooke over the years with concerns about the sustainability of its operations in Maine and elsewhere. Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, said Saturday that the Conservation Law Foundation has worked with salmon farmers to develop environmental standards, and the notice of intent to sue was a surprise.
“Given the fact that CLF and the other groups associated with the proposed suit have not expressed any of their concerns to the farmers and that all of them stand to financially benefit, one has to wonder why farmers would ever work cooperatively with these groups to address their concerns,” Belle said.
Posted inCommunity, News, Outdoors, Schools & Education
The group from Skowhegan Area High School’s outdoor leadership program built tables for the overlook in Dallas Plantation.
The loons are back and nesting on lakes statewide and we need your help to monitor their population! Every year since 1983, hundreds of volunteers have gone out to lakes and ponds across Maine on the third Saturday in July. These volunteers submit data about the number of loons they observe from 7 to 7:30 am, which gives us an excellent “snapshot” of the loon population. The Annual Loon Count allows us to monitor how the number of adults and chicks has changed over the past 40 years and make sure we know how to best protect their population!
This year, the Loon Count will take place on Saturday, July 18. We encourage you to join a group of over 1,800 volunteers and help us count the number of loons in Maine! The Loon Count occurs on lakes and ponds all across the state and volunteers can survey by boat or shore (you don’t have to have a boat to take part!).
If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org and tell us if there’s a specific lake or area you’d like to survey. We are always aiming to expand our coverage across the state and particularly encourage volunteers in northern Maine to get involved!
The deadline to sign up for the Annual Loon Count is July 10, so please reach out as soon as possible.
If you can’t make it on July 18, or if one day just isn’t enough for you, you can monitor loons throughout the summer.Through our Loon Pair Monitoring project, you can submit observations of breeding loon pairs over several months to help us better understand nest and chick success across Maine. Find out more here >
If talking to people and doing outreach appeals to you, and you’d like to help spread the word about loon conservation, check out our Look Out for Loons outreach program.
THOMASTON, Maine (WGME) — The Maine DEA says they arrested two people on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking out of Vinalhaven.
Mariah Grover, 22, and Jefferson Jazzir Arias, 27, were reportedly arrested following an investigation by the Maine DEA’s Mid-Coast Task Force and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office into suspected drug trafficking from the island of Vinalhaven to Rockland via ferry.
Jefferson Jazzir Arias (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Both Grover, a resident of Texas and Maine, and Arias, a resident of Texas and California, were pulled over by authorities in Thomaston in a car that had been identified in that investigation, according to the Maine DEA.
The Maine DEA says a search of the car found 66 grams of suspected cocaine, a .45 caliber handgun, $9,500 in suspected drug money, and other “items indicative of drug trafficking.”
Mariah Grover (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Authorities say Arias had two extraditable warrants related to robbery in California and theft in Texas. Arias was reportedly charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, and Grover was charged with unlawful trafficking in Schedule W drugs.
Grover was reportedly taken to Knox County Jail on a $50,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on May 29th.
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Arias was also taken to Knox County Jail on a $75,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on the same day, according to authorities.
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