Oyster farmer and lobster fisher Krista Tripp pictured with her son, as part of the "Maine Farmers Are Why" awareness-raising campaign.
Photo: Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition
The Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition has launched a public information campaign aimed at increasing understanding of aquaculture in the US state of Maine, amid ongoing disputes over sea farming in several coastal communities.
The campaign, "Maine Farmers Are Why", puts the spotlight on the personal experiences of individual sea farmers and presents aquaculture as part of Maine’s "working waterfront". According to the coalition, the campaign aims to address hitherto limited public knowledge about modern mariculture, and its economic and environmental role.
One of the farmers featured is Krista Tripp from Midcoast Maine, who combines oyster farming with commercial lobstering, with a 4-acre oyster lease in South Thomaston, Knox County, as well as 800 lobster traps. Tripp, who now employs three full-time workers for much of the year, began farming oysters in 2018.
“There’s always uncertainty in the wild-caught fisheries, so I went into oyster farming,” Tripp said, in press materials released by the campaign. “I wanted to pass something on to the future generations. My son Sebastian is growing up alongside the business and can get into oyster farming when he’s older if he chooses to.”
The campaign also draws attention to data from the US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Commerce indicating that more than 80% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, much of it farmed overseas. Global demand for farmed seafood is increasing, and the coalition argues that Maine’s cold-water conditions, maritime workforce and existing infrastructure make it well placed to expand domestic production of seafood.
As previously reported by WeAreAquaculture, the Maine Farmed Seafood Coalition was formed in 2025, with its steering committee including representatives from FocusMaine, the Maine Aquaculture Association, World Wildlife Fund, Coastal Enterprises Inc. and the Island Institute. Andrea Cianchette Maker of FocusMaine, who sits on the committee, says public attitudes appear to be shifting as awareness grows.
“The more people learn the facts about aquaculture,” she explains, “the stronger their support for it is. This campaign will help Maine people understand and appreciate the tremendous value aquaculture provides to our state, economically, ecologically and culturally.”
A 2024 poll by the Maine Aquaculture Association found that 76% of Mainers consider aquaculture products to be a sustainable food source, rising to 82% among those already familiar with the industry. The coalition says the campaign will use storytelling, advertising and in-person events to build up public support.
The outreach effort comes as the neighbouring towns of Cushing and South Bristol in Lincoln County, Maine, are due to consider ordinances that would restrict aquaculture leases larger than half an acre. Votes on the measures could take place as early as March this year, but critics of the proposals argue that imposing such limits would make many farms commercially unviable.
Tripp’s own lease is nearly four acres, and she says the business has only recently reached consistent profitability. By contrast, the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture reported that the average land-based farm in Maine covered 174 acres.
However, Tripp argues that diversification has long been part of coastal livelihoods, and she sees aquaculture as a natural extension of that tradition.
“Many lobstermen I know have already diversified what they’re fishing for,” she said. “Aquaculture is another way to diversify.”
She added that opposition often stems from unfamiliarity rather than direct experience: “People just don’t know what we’re doing out there. When there’s a new industry in their area, people feel a lot of fear around it, and they picture a worst-case scenario. We’re not trying to take over the Gulf of Maine. We’re just trying to make a living on the water.”