Progress report for LNE23-462
Project Information
The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97% of the world’s oceans and Maine’s rural coast is dependent almost exclusively on a climate-dependent lobster monoculture. Kelp farming is an off-season, viable income source for lobstermen and women with limited opportunities on the water and who face a critical dependence on this vulnerable fishery. In partial response to the volatility of the lobster industry, Atlantic Sea Farms (ASF) - a mission-driven, woman-run company - and our partner farmers are pioneering the fresh, sustainable, line-grown domestic seaweed industry. Kelp farming not only helps fishermen diversify their income and adapt to climate change - but uses no arable land, freshwater, pesticides, fertilizers, or feed inputs and can also mitigate some of the effects of ocean acidification by removing carbon and nitrogen from the ocean creating a “halo” of less acidic water. Fishermen are well-equipped with the knowledge to work safely and effectively on the ocean, possess the gear and boat needed to successfully start a kelp farm with minimal additional investment, and most importantly their immediate survival depends on the health of our lands and sea. However, due to bureaucratic barriers the hurdles to entry remain high for new and current farmers interested in starting or growing their kelp farms.
The current leasing process, run through Maine’s Department of Marine Resources and designed by marine scientists, is complex, technical, and time consuming. The process is often complicated enough to prevent new farmers who are unfamiliar with the process and busy running other marine-based businesses from applying and obtaining a lease. Education and training are needed to help fishermen successfully navigate the leasing process and to reduce the time from initial interest to first harvest. ASF aims to support a total of 150, comprising both new and existing seaweed farmers to start or expand their farms in the next three years. To achieve this target, five annual workshops, assisting 5-10 farmers, will be held in varying locations to include hubs across the coast in: southern, mid-coast, and Downeast Maine. Workshops will cover an overview of the application process; site selection and mapping; application questions, formatting, and submission; community and landowner outreach; potential conflicts (e.g. user issues, environmental, etc.); and guidance for the scoping session and public hearing. Participants will have dedicated time with ASF staff, our current partner farmers, and DMR staff. After completing the workshop ASF staff will provide continued assistance to farmers as they move through the process to ensure farmers successfully acquire a lease. In addition to technical assistance, ASF provides free seed and a 100% buyback guarantee of all harvested kelp crops to lower the initial cost to operate and mitigate the risks of fishermen’s new business.
ASF will host workshops for 150 prospective and active kelp farmers in Maine. Pending DMR approval, this could result in up to 500 acres of leased farm space, resulting in upwards of 5 million pounds of farmed kelp - more than doubling the state’s annual harvest yields. The production of 5 million pounds of kelp would result in a minimum of 3.5 million dollars that ASF would pay farmers who decide to partner together for their crops, based on the existing price per pound of kelp, which is assessed annually and expected to increase over the project timeline.
The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 97% of the world’s oceans and Maine’s rural coast is dependent almost exclusively on a climate-dependent lobster monoculture. Kelp farming is an off-season, viable income source for lobstermen and women with limited opportunities on the water and who face a critical dependence on this vulnerable fishery. In partial response to the volatility of the lobster industry, Atlantic Sea Farms (ASF) - a mission-driven, woman-run company - and our partner farmers are pioneering the fresh, sustainable, line-grown domestic seaweed industry.
Fishermen are well-equipped with the knowledge to work safely and effectively on the ocean, possess the gear and boat needed to successfully start a kelp farm with minimal additional investment, and most importantly their immediate survival depends on the health of our lands and sea. However, due to bureaucratic barriers the hurdles to entry remain high for new and current farmers interested in starting or growing their kelp farms.
The current leasing process, run through Maine’s Department of Marine Resources and designed by marine scientists, is complex, technical, and time consuming. The process is often complicated enough to prevent new farmers who are unfamiliar with the process and busy running other marine-based businesses from applying and obtaining a lease. Education and training are needed to help fishermen successfully navigate the leasing process and to reduce the time from initial interest to first harvest.
ASF aims to support both new and existing seaweed farmers to start or expand their farms in the next three years. To achieve this target, annual workshops assisting farmers, will be held in varying locations across the coast. Workshops will cover an overview of the application process; site selection and mapping; application questions, formatting, and submission; community and landowner outreach; potential conflicts (e.g. user issues, environmental, etc.); and guidance for the scoping session and public hearing. Participants will have dedicated time with ASF staff, our current partner farmers, and DMR staff. After completing the workshop ASF staff will provide continued assistance to farmers as they move through the process to ensure farmers successfully acquire a lease. In addition to technical assistance, ASF provides free seed and a 100% buyback guarantee of all harvested kelp crops to lower the initial cost to operate and mitigate the risks of fishermen’s new business.
Research
Education
Engagement:
Atlantic Sea Farms has a proven track record for recruiting and retaining partner farmers. We receive weekly, and sometimes daily, inquiries from fishermen - many of whom were recommended to ASF by our current partner farmer network. ASF’s staff constantly attend events and are out in the field meeting fishermen to discuss farming kelp and the benefits of regenerative farming for the ocean, local communities, and economy. Additionally, we plan to advertise these workshops through the Maine Lobster Association, DMR, with harbormasters and fisherman co-ops, and through our Project Advisory Committee members.
We will hold five annual workshops in hubs along the Maine Coast. Each workshop will aim to enroll 5-10 farmers interested in obtaining a lease to grow seaweed and existing farmers looking to expand their current operation. If an existing farmer is unavailable to attend the workshop we will ask one of our Project Advisory Committee members who are current farmers to share their past experience and expertise with the new farmers. Workshops will educate and train participants on the entire application process and will be led by myself, Liz MacDonald - the project leader, and Aurora Burgess. A substantial amount of time during each workshop will be dedicated to ensuring participants feel comfortable and confident with each aspect of the process and that they are given time to ask questions and meet the staff from DMR that will be reviewing their applications and lease site. After the training ASF staff will continue to follow-up with participants as they work to complete their applications - including attending scoping meetings and hearings and ensuring their applications are submitted in a timely manner.
In addition to the education and training provided during the workshops, ASF supplies partner farmers with free seed (a $10,000-$15,000 investment), guarantees a 100% buyback of all seaweed produced, and provides continual technical assistance and access to our entire partner farmer network for the duration of their partnership with ASF.
Learning:
Leasing workshops will walk prospective and current seaweed farmers through the experimental and standard aquaculture leasing process. ASF and DMR staff will lead discussions and practice sessions in proper site selection and mapping, effectively and completely addressing application questions, building social license, addressing potential conflicts, holding effective scoping sessions and public hearings. Participants will have time to meet members from the DMR to better understand their role in the leasing process, ask questions, and build relationships. The workshop will contain short presentations, meet and greets, discussion, Q&A, and will place a strong focus on experiential learning. Participants will practice using software to map potential farm sites, work through various lease questions, select site-appropriate gear and diagram gear deployment, and be provided with ample time for questions and discussion with experienced farmers, ASF staff, and government workers. These workshops will provide all the tools and resources necessary for participants to quickly, confidently, and successfully submit an aquaculture lease application to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Evaluation:
Project success will be measured in three ways: 1) number of lease applications submitted to DMR and number of leases and acres successfully granted by DMR to workshop participants, 2) workshop effectiveness and improvement, 3) number of farmers successfully farming and growing (in terms of poundage and revenue). Evaluation method 1 can be easily tracked on the DMR’s aquaculture website as submission and granting of applications and acreage is publicly available information. Evaluation method 2 will be measured by disseminating a survey to all workshop participants after they attend the workshop and after successful submission of their lease application to best assess what aspects of the workshop were most effective and where it could be improved for future cohorts. To better understand what farmers are successfully farming and plan to grow their operations, we will hold an annual farmer’s meeting for all ASF partner farmers as evaluation method 3. At these meetings the past season and upcoming season will be discussed, but we will also use this as an opportunity to track whether each farmer is still actively farming, if they consider themselves a successful farmer, and how they measure their success. Additionally, ASF will track pounds of seaweed grown (by farmer, by farm, and by species) and how much money our network as a whole obtains from farming seaweed annually. These evaluation methods will allow us to accurately track the project’s progress towards obtaining the performance target and allow us to improve the workshop to best serve fishermen and farmers.
2023
It has been exciting to get this project started and in the next 2 months 80% of the year 1 workshops and regional meeting will take place to get the educational targets hit for the project. The project members at ASF and advisory members are feeling optimistic that the milestones and objectives are still realistic and achievable in the time frames outlined. The enthusiasm for kelp farming along the coast of ME has grown and we expect the number of participants at the upcoming events to hit the 5-10 goal. We have also identified that a key way to promote the workshop events will be at the Maine Fisherman's Forum, this is a very well attended annual event for fishermen education and networking. We are going to have a booth for the 3 day event promoting the upcoming workshops for fishermen that are interested in participating in their region to make sure we are able to offer it to a wide audience outside of our existing network. This booth with also be to share initial educational information by answering questions about seaweed farming and aquaculture in Maine.
Milestones
Milestone 1 - Workshop Recruitment (Engagement)
- A total of 150 new and existing farmers will be recruited to attend 1 of 15 leasing workshops over the course of the three year project. Participants need to signal their interest in kelp farming and intention to successfully complete and submit an aquaculture lease to be considered for the workshops. Recruitment for each year will be complete by October and a wait list will be established for subsequent workshops, last minute openings, or subsequent education and training opportunities. All members of the project team and project advisory committee will be heavily involved in recruitment and selection of participants. Recruitment for year 1 will be completed by October 31st 2023. Recruitment for years 2 and 3 will be completed by October 31st 2024 and October 31st 2025, respectively.
- Year 1: 30-35 new farmers and 5-10 existing farmers (or project advisory committee members) will be recruited to attend 1 of 5 leasing workshops.
- Complete - Dec. 20th, 2023
- This fall the ASF project team & project advisory committee identified the interested candidates in multiple ways including: word of mouth, website & info@ emailing lists, community engagement at preexisting leasing scoping sessions, and event networking (like the Seagriculture USA conf. held in Portland, ME Sept. 2023). Based on the individuals interested a series of intro conversations were held that informed the team of seriously interested candidates (measured using metrics like: did the candidates show up on time / keep scheduled appointments / follow up with project staff in a timely fashion) that had strong potential to be successful at starting a farm operation (measured by existing skills and assets. Some examples include: do they have a boat? do they have a commercial fishing background to provide the social license to gain acceptance from other working waterfront professionals? are they able to safely be on the ocean in the winter when farming ops take place?).
- Years 2 and 3: 45-50 new farmers and 5-10 existing farmers (or project advisory committee members) will be recruited to attend 1 of 5 leasing workshops.
- Year 1: 30-35 new farmers and 5-10 existing farmers (or project advisory committee members) will be recruited to attend 1 of 5 leasing workshops.
Milestone 2 - Workshop Development (Learning)
- Liz, Aurora, and Bri will work with DMR staff, our current farmer network, and the project advisory committee to plan and develop an effective workshop curriculum. Curriculum and delivery plan to be completed by December 1st 2023 and continually revisited to ensure the most effective material and methods are being presented and utilized
- In Progress -2/1/24
- Project staff have put the initial workshop materials together and gained input from the additional project members listed above. Some of the input from DMR has been to address updates to permitting requirements such as buoy colors and lease marking. DMR is actively making changes to improve the rate of lease approval and farmer compliance so the ASF project team is in close communication to ensure that the most accurate and up to date information is presented to new candidates for farming. Additionally, as farmers come up with new methods to improve gear design and equipment on the farm we are incorporating that into the workshop materials to share different options that farmers can utilize on their farm design when it comes time for the to fill out leasing materials.
Milestone 3 - Workshop Delivery (Learning)
- Year 1: Five workshops supporting, educating, and training a total of 30-35 new farmers and 5-10 existing farmers in the lease application process will be held by Liz, Aurora, and Bri with support from DMR and the project advisory committee from December 2023 through March 31st 2024 for completion. At least 3 of these 5 workshops will be open to all farmers without any commitment to sell to ASF.
- In Progress - 2/1/2024
- What-to-do-Next-1-pager
- ASF Workshop Presentation
- We have identified the 3 locations for the workshops to be held between Dec - March 2024.
- Harpswell, ME - Southern, ME region (tbd for 3/24)
- Bremen, ME - Midcoast, ME region (scheduled for 2/9/24)
- Jonesport / Machias, ME - Downeastl ME region (scheduled for 3/5/24)
- Once these 3 workshops are complete we will be able to gauge the interest from each region to schedule the following 2 meetings in the regions with the most interested candidates.
- Originally scheduled workshops for Jan. 2024 were significantly delayed and ultimately postponed due to devastating winter storms that wreaked havoc on many coastal communities due to record high seas that crumbled docks, wharves, roads, bridges and working water infrastructure that many existing farmers and future farming candidates rely on for their every day operations.
- Years 2 & 3: Five workshops supporting, educating, and training a total of 45-50 new farmers and 5-10 existing farmers (or project advisory committee members) in the lease application process will be held by Liz, Aurora, and Bri with support from DMR and the project advisory committee from December 2024-March 2025 and December 2025-March 2026 for years 2 and 3, respectively. At least 3 of these 5 workshops will be open to all farmers without any commitment to sell to ASF.
Milestone 4 - Workshop Evaluation (Evaluation)
- Evaluations, in the form of a short survey, will be disseminated by ASF staff to all participants shortly after the completion of each workshop to evaluate what aspects of the workshop worked well, could use improvement, and/or could be removed from future workshops. We will aim for a 65% response rate by April 31st of each project year (2024-2026)
- In Progress - 2/1/2024 Link to Google Survey (Workshop)
Milestone 5 - Lease Application Submission (Evaluation)
- Evaluations, in the form of a short survey, will be disseminated by ASF staff to all participants who successfully submit a lease application to DMR to better understand how we can aid in the application process. We will aim for a 65% response rate 6 months after the workshop in which the participant attended.
- Through the DMR website ASF staff will be able to track how many fishermen submit applications for aquaculture leases and how many acres they are granted.
- Not Begun - 2/1/24 Link to Google Survey (Lease Application)
Milestone 6 - Lease Application Granted (Evaluation)
- ASF staff will track all lease applications granted to workshop participants through the DMR website. Completion goal of June 31st 2024-2026 annually for aggregated data.
- Not Begun - 2/1/24
Milestone 7 - Workshop Improvements (Learning and Evaluation)
- Project leaders, with input from the project advisory committee, will incorporate suggestions from participant evaluations into each subsequent project year’s workshops. Improvements will be implemented by December 31st of each subsequent year (2023-2026)
- In Progress - 2/1/24
Milestone 8 - Success in Farming (Engagement and Evaluation)
- ASF staff will hold at least one partner farmer meeting annually . The goal of this meeting will evaluate and track if the farmer is still actively using their site and plan to continue to do so, if they consider their first year in farming a success, how they measure farm success, and their plans for their future in seaweed farming. Since ASF continues to work with their partner farmers after successful granting of an aquaculture lease we will be able to track pounds of seaweed grown (by farmer, by farm, and by species) and how much money our network as a whole obtains from farming seaweed annually. Goal completed by March 31st annually (2024-2026).
- Not Begun - 2/1/24
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities:
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes
Target #1
3
Prospective farmers will begin their lease application process to acquire a kelp farm operation in Maine State waters. The application process will start after the current reporting period at upcoming meetings to be held in their region.
If these farmers apply for 2 lease applications each and they are granted by the state of Maine, there could be an additional 6 lease applications permitted for kelp farming. This would be a total of 24 acres of potential kelp farming area.
24 acres of kelp farming area could produce up to 1.2 million lbs of kelp in 1-2 growing seasons. Farmers with a one year working agreement with ASF at the current price / lb rate could earn $720,000.00 for these crops.
no completed change to note but the beginnings of adoption will take place during the next reporting phase of the project.
no completed change to date.
none measured to date.
Information Products
- Atlantic Sea Farms-- Seaweed Farming in Maine (Conference/Presentation Material)