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V O L . X X X I I N O. X I I J U N E 1 , 2 0 2 6 18 A G R I C U LT U R E / A Q UA C U LT U R E F O C U S "In terms of figuring out the design and putting it together, the first pot took us about eight hours, doing every con- nection with a pair of pliers," says Walsh. "e Cro-Magnon way," Steuber jokes. Tests began in 2024 on the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center's experimental aquaculture lease site off Walpole. Successive iterations went to lobstermen experienced with aquacul- ture diversification. e gear can be used on state-per- mitted aquaculture lease sites; the part- ners are pursuing a regulatory change that would allow the gear's use alongside lobstering operations. To date, they've sold over 200 cages to a dozen custom- ers, including researchers and aquacul- turalists in Maine and beyond. Walsh and Steuber now work with omaston lobster trap producer Brooks Trap Mill to process components while they complete final assembly and design custom versions requested by customers for species such as clams and urchins. "ese are species that want cold, deep water where fishermen were already fishing and they have pathways to market," says Walsh. "A lot of it was looking at the Venn diagram of com- mercial fishing and aquaculture." Data tools In Gouldsboro, Springtide Seaweed LLC has the largest seaweed farm in Maine; has trained hundreds of seaweed farmers in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia; provides nursery and farm technology and services to cultivate sea- weed and green sea urchins to industry and research institutions throughout the U.S.; and operates the nation's only com- mercial green urchin hatchery. It founded Maine Seaweed Exchange, a nonprofit devoted to sea- weed aquaculture education and research. Founded in 2017 by Sarah Redmond, a former Maine Sea Grant seaweed agent, Springtide was recently selected for Chelsea, Mass., nonprofit Blue Institute's Blue Excelerator, a blue technology accelerator program. With Trey Angera, the company's technolo- gist, Springtide is developing a software platform, called the Verus Mariculture Suite, designed to help farmers optimize their sites and models. "Our particular expertise is in sea- weed and sea urchin aquaculture, and we have a farm model available for that system which we would use with the Verus," says Redmond. "e Verus sys- tem will be more of a data approach that integrates and layers scientific knowl- edge, environmental data, farmer experience and real-time observations to support sea farming." Biotech Salmonics LLC in Brunswick turns blood byproduct derived from farm- grown fish during harvest into biomedi- cal products and pre-cursors for research, diagnostic purposes, and for wound healing, pain management and trauma care applications in veterinary medicine. Founded in 2020 by Cem Giray, Salmonics partners with aquaculture companies that provide the raw mate- rial, fish blood. Customers include researchers, diagnostic companies and manufacturers. "While we are providing high-qual- ity products to our customers, we are at same time providing high-value add to our aquaculture and fisheries partners for a byproduct that would otherwise join the waste stream," Giray says. Atlantic BlueBio Corp. in Kittery wants to build Maine's first seaweed biorefinery as a collaborative effort with seaweed farmers and scien- tific, nonprofit, academic and entre- preneurial resources. e aim is to develop high-value ingredients from seaweed for formulators, brands and manufacturers in the skincare and personal care industries. Atlantic BlueBio was accepted ear- lier this year into Maine Blue Biotech Studio, a two-week accelerator pro- gram for marine biotech companies organized by investment firm Hatch Blue and Bigelow Laboratory. e pilot biorefinery would separate seaweed into several useful components, each having separate uses. Atlantic BlueBio is doing pilot scale testing at a research facility in Brazil, work- ing with the University of Maine's Advanced Manufacturing Center to look at technical requirements and costs of building a facility in Maine, preparing fundraising materials and looking at potential locations. "In Maine, we're surrounded by an extraordinary marine resource," says founder Krista Rosen. "Farmed kelp and wild seaweed grow incredibly well here, yet relatively little of that poten- tial has been translated into high- value products or ingredients." 'Plug-and-play' Saco Bay Sea Farms, a Yarmouth startup founded by Michael Scannell and Nick Poulin, is developing a "plug-and-play" aquaculture coworking space, allowing farmers to test sea farming practices at a fraction of the cost typically required. e model allows new farmers to rent sea space within an existing aqua- culture site to test practices at a fraction of the time and cost typically required. e farm lease will include a high- density mooring system that supports multiple lines for growing product such as kelp. ere will be an aquaculture sup- port vessel and on-demand employees with aquaculture experience. Scannell and Poulin recently won Maine Center for Entrepreneurs' Top Gun showcase pitch competition for the concept. e win came with a $25,000 prize to help build the business. Founded in 2025, the company cultivates sea scallops, green sea urchins and sugar kelp and has several research contracts, including the universities of Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, experimenting with co-culture of scallops and urchins and deep-water aquaculture. Scannell began his career fishing commercially for lobsters in Saco Bay before diversifying into aquaculture. He's been part of two Maine delegations to Japan studying farm-raised scallop and urchin methods and technology. "We're particularly interested in the seaweed-to-urchin pipeline and how ยป C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Sarah Redmond's Springtide Seaweed has the largest seaweed farm in Maine and has trained hundreds of seaweed farmers in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia. Trey Angera, Springtide Seaweed's technologist, Springtide is developing a software platform to help farmers optimize their sites and models. Springtide Seaweed in Gouldsboro has been developing seaweed cultivation technologies. P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F S P R I N G T I D E S E AW E E D F I L E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y S A L M O N I C S F I L E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y S A L M O N I C S Cem Giray's Salmonics LLC turns plasma proteins derived from farm-grown fish, that would otherwise be discarded as waste, into biomedical products. Salmonics' product Sea-Stat is a veterinary surgical kit crafted from fish-derived ingredients.