Resources Database

Kelp offers a promising way for fishermen to diversify their income streams in the lobster offseason, and it's also the newest seafood product GMRI verified under their Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested® label. The Gulf of Maine Responsibly Harvested® label is a promise that seafood hails from the clean, cool waters of the Gulf of Maine and the fishery or farm is managed in a way that contributes to the long-term health of the resource. The label empowers consumers to buy seafood they can feel good about.

Provides confidential and comprehensive location and business services for aquaculture companies looking to locate or expand in the state.

A non-profit trade association that represents the Maine aquaculture industry at the state, federal, and international levels.

Provides a unified national voice for aquaculture on the national level as well as informative webinars, publications, and facts about aquaculture.

Reviews the keys to running a successful business; the four P's of marketing, wholesale distributors, risks, and sales.

Established in 1988 by the Maine Legislature with a mission to assist in developing economically and environmentally sustainable aquaculture opportunities in Maine.

Washington County Community College and Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center have joined forces with partners, to bring you Workforce Training in Aquaculture. Students will have the opportunity to start careers in the aquaculture sector statewide, as well as transfer into four-year programs.

Provides advising and financing to fisheries and aquaculture businesses to improve their long-term viability, create and maintain quality jobs, safeguard marine-related infrastructure and environments, and help preserve the cultural integrity of Maine’s working waterfront.

This training program uses a mix of meetings and field trips/site visits to introduce participants to the issues important in running a successful aquaculture business including: site selection, equipment and husbandry, permitting and regulation, environmental monitoring, marketing and sales, farm management and biosecurity, business planning, and financial management.

The UMaine Aquaculture Research Insitute has created a Research Portal in which you can look up aquaculture research happening in Maine by focus area, PI, funding source, timeline or keyword.

Offers a collaborative outlook and proposes goals to guide the aquaculture sector in Maine over the next ten years. Four goals were identified: 1. Develop a streamlined licensing and permitting process that balances the rights of an applicant and the public. 2. Increase integration and understanding of aquaculture in Maine’s coastal communities 3. Expand and promote the Maine seafood brand. 4. Make Maine a leader in triple bottom line sustainable aquaculture: social, economic, environmental.

A list of current aquaculture training programs offered in Maine.

Reviews business management skills, such as finance, record keeping, marketing, and personnel management. More aquaculture businesses fail because of poor management than poor production practices.

The Maine Aquaculture Association has released the first Maine Aquaculture Occupational Standards, which specify the current workforce skills and training needs of Maine’s aquaculture sector. Altogether, four standards have been released, focusing on occupations related to (1) Marine Shellfish and Sea Vegetables; (2) Marine Finfish; (3) Land-Based RAS; and (4) Land-Based Shellfish Hatcheries. A supplementary document, the Maine Shellfish Aquaculture Career Pathways Map, is designed to provide an overview of the most common job types, entry points, and career pathway opportunities in Maine’s shellfish aquaculture sector today.

University of Maine System (UMS) micro-credential offers professional development opportunities that result in a verified micro-credential for those who want to update their aquaculture skillset. Coordinated by the Aquaculture Research Institute, this pathway will use the University of Maine System’s extensive aquaculture resources and educational expertise to create hands-on learning experiences.

Free online entry-level oyster farm worker Certificate course. Do all 16 modules to pursue farmhand certification, or simply watch and browse to get a better sense of the industry. Instructors include East Coast Shellfish Growers Association's Dr. Bob Rheault, and amazing farmers Matt Behan, John and Cindy West, and David Roebuck.

In September 2023 the ECSGA updated its 2010 Best Management Practices manual. Building on the 2010 version, this update adds a new section on the management and handling of floating gear, hundreds of embedded links, info on new gear types and a revised bibliography. ECSGA also completely revamped the tool to create your own farm-specific Best Practices document: the Best Practices Form.

A look at the individual Maine farmers who make a living in the growing industry of Aquaculture.

Discusses what marketing is and why it is important including developing a marketing plan, market outlets, and personalizing the products and the business.

This report is based on the research priorities survey conducted in June 2019 of Maine’s aquaculture community and is compared with surveys from 2012 and 2016 to look at trends. There have been some changes in the prioritization of needs since 2016, but many of the same research, development, and education (R&D&E) needs persist and remain unaddressed. As expected, there are different R&D&E priorities for different aquaculture sectors.

Earn a Certificate in Coastal Fisheries & Marine Technology with added industry recognized credentials such as PADI Diver Certification, OUPV Captain's License and ABYC Certifications for free.

Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, in collaboration with The World Wildlife Fund, is on a mission to get educational resources about seaweed aquaculture into Maine’s 5th-grade classrooms. During the summer and fall of 2023, we will distribute With a Little Kelp from Our Friends– a book on the secret life of seaweed written by Mathew Bate and illustrated by Liz Rowland– to educators. The book will be accompanied by teacher resources to increase literacy about seaweed aquaculture.

An ID guide to organisms commonly found in, on, and around oyster grow bags ​and other aquaculture equipment used in the Gulf of Maine and North Atlantic.