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V O L . X X I I N O. X I X A U G U S T 2 2 , 2 0 1 6 14 R ealtors will tell you buying property is all about "location, location, location." e same is true for fi nding the best site for aqua- culture, though varying conditions largely invisible to the human eye have till now made picking an area to grow oysters or other sea animals largely a trial-and-error process. And what happens when you dis- cover, after spending two years getting a lease and three years growing your animals, that the site you chose has too much current or pollution, the water's too cold, there's disease or it is exposed to too many storms — any of which could diminish or even ruin your yield? Researchers at the University of Maine, Orono's Darling Marine Center in Walpole are trying to take the risk out of selecting aquaculture sites by using buoys, sensors and other instrumenta- tion to monitor water conditions for optimal growth of particular species. " e aquaculture industry in Maine in the last fi ve to 10 years has been expanding," says Damian Brady, assis- tant professor at Darling, who is men- toring Katie Coupland, a doctoral can- didate in oceanography, on the project. e aim is to better know the physics and biology of the estuary environment where aquaculture sites are set up and use the added information to make the industry more sustainable, both eco- nomically and environmentally. Brady says more than half of the oysters harvested in Maine come from the Damariscotta River, which is why that river is such a good laboratory for researchers to learn about optimal conditions for the animals. "Part of the impetus of our research is to fi nd more Damariscottas in Maine," he adds. ere are some promising areas, such as the New Meadows River that fl ows into the northern end of Casco Bay. ere are six new oyster farms there already, Brady says. e Kennebec, Penobscot, Machias, Cobscook and Saco rivers also are among points of current and future study. He adds that the number of sites and the number of people engaging in aquaculture are increasing. Economic impact grows Aquaculture, which typically is sited within three miles off shore so the opera- tions are easy to get to, is a growing busi- ness in Maine, and is especially being looked to as an alternative source of food as well as an economic driver for the state. " e economic impact was $75 mil- lion to $80 million in 2014," says Chris Davis, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, based at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole. at's according to early numbers being pulled together in a new, updated report scheduled to be released by the associa- tion in mid-September. e multiplier eff ect of related industries brings the total economic impact to $135 million to $150 million, he says. Davis said that economic impact is on par with that of 2007 because 2014 was part of a three-year cycle when salmon have not been as plenti- ful. Salmon is the largest aquaculture product by far, he says, much bigger than shellfi sh and sea vegetables. While the report is still being completed, Davis noted some inter- esting trends, like a quarter of the respondents interviewed are startups in the pre-revenue stage. "About one-fourth started in the last two years and another 20% started in the past three to fi ve years," he says. ese small farm sites tend to be pro- totype farms for pilot studies, he says. "A lot of the people are self-funded," he says. " ey're keeping their day job. But there's a lot of potential growth sitting out there." e most diffi cult part of the process is getting a new lease, according to Brady at Darling, and then seeing if the area has pollution or is otherwise prohibited. Another issue is social, that is, resi- dents in the area not wanting a working farm near their property. at can be largely an educational task, including the residents seeing that the farms are clean and attract tourists, the scientists say. One issue around aquaculture, notes Coupland of Darling, is that fi nfi sh aquaculture, particularly salmon, was known several years ago for polluting water and depleting oxygen levels in waters to the point where other animals couldn't survive. at was mostly due to overfeeding of the salmon, which now is monitored closely so a similar problem with detritus doesn't occur, she says. Removing the guesswork As for the work at Darling to apply sci- ence to the siting process, Davis says it's a good idea, because it can take a total of fi ve years to get a license and then grow product to get to market. e idea is to get away from trial-and-error siting to decrease risks for the farmers. e Darling work is part of a fi ve- year, $20 million National Science Foundation project that started two years ago. It is part of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, a federal program that gives a fi nancial leg up to states that typically don't attract as much federal funding as others. e grant established a Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network, or SEANET, program in Maine. Involved in the SEANET program are UMaine, University of New England, University of Southern Maine, UMaine at Machias, Bowdoin College, Maine Maritime Academy, St. Joseph's College, Southern Maine Community College, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the Cobscook Community Learning Center. ere also are dozens of other partners and stakeholder groups collabo- rating on the project's research, education, workforce development and economic development activities. "In aquaculture, we're at a point where there isn't enough information Darling Marine Center researchers Katie Coupland and Damian Brady use buoys, sensors and other technology on the Damariscotta River and elsewhere to lessen risk and potentially boost productivity when locating new sites for aquaculture. Darling Marine Center is part of the University of Maine. P H O T O / S Y LV I A G U Z M A N Farming in water UMaine scientists use technology to find best aquaculture sites B y L o r i V a l i g r a American/European Oyster aquaculture harvest in Maine, 2013–15 N O T E : Figures on the left-hand column are numbers of individual oysters S O U R C E : Maine Department of Marine Resources 0 1M 2M 3M 4M 5M 6M 7M 2015 2014 2013 $0 $1M $2M $3M $4M $5M $6M $7M Damariscotta River Other farms Total harvest value

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