BREAKING NEWS: DEP says no violation in salmon die-off; aquafarm opponents cite lackluster effort
SOMESVILLE, Sept. 27, 2021 - In a carefully worded press release, the state Department of Environmental Protection said Monday it could find no permit violations associated with the recent fish die-off at Cooke Aquaculture pens, prompting groups fighting fin fish farming in Maine to question the report.
The state confirmed the deaths of more than 100,000 salmon. Cooke reported to DEP the mortalities for Black Island were 28,212 and Black Island South were 87,607.
“DEP staff inspected the Black Island and Black Island South net pen sites on August 31, 2021,” said deputy DEP commissioner David R. Madore. “Visibility in the water was limited to about 5 to 8 feet and the net pens had been cleaned within the last week. DEP staff did not find evidence of excessive net pen fouling.”
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Executive Director Crystal Canney said, “So the obvious question is – what killed the fish? You won’t find answers in the statement issued today, and we are still waiting to hear from the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the primary regulating agency on net pen salmon. DMR was very quick to say that it was a dissolved oxygen issue, but the DEP has already ruled that out in its statement today.”
Canney said that the lack of oversight by state government is appalling, especially given the very real environmental and public health concerns posed by the die-off. She said that her organization has already filed a Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) for notes and correspondence that went into the DEP arriving at its conclusions in this matter.
“Cooke Aquaculture has been working under an old permit that was due for renewal in 2019. Under the current permit, testing for oxygen does not happen in the pens where the fish lived but rather 35 meters away from the site,” Canney said. “That’s like having a problem with your woodstove filling your house with smoke, but then measuring air quality out in your yard. Maine’s inability to provide adequate regulation around net pen salmon couldn’t be clearer.”
“So, what caused the die-offs and are other species in any danger? If the pens were cleaned before the state arrived to look at them, where did all the fouling go, to the bottom of the ocean and what impact is that having on the fishing and lobster industry?” Canney added.
Madore said Cooke discovered high mortalities of fish on Aug. 16 at Black Island and Black Island South net pen sites. “Although Cooke is not required to report mortalities to the DEP, on Friday Aug. 27, they notified DEP Compliance staff that Cooke had removed and disposed of carcasses and cleaned the net pens at each site. “
Virtually all the data used to make its determination came from Cooke itself. Madore seemed to go out of his way to compliment Cooke.
“Cooke Aquaculture provided to DEP daily dissolved oxygen (DO) readings collected in the 30-meter mixing zone outside the net pens at Black Island and Black Island South net pen sites for the period of July 1, 2021 – August 31, 2021. The permit limit for DO within the mixing zone is 6.0 mg/L. Cooke’s lowest measure of DO in the mixing zone for the period submitted was on August 10, with a reading of 6.5 mg/L at both sites. On August 13, 2021 they reported DO readings of 6.9 mg/L and the DO increased over the weekend to 9.0 and 8.4 mg/L. On August 16, when the mortalities were reportedly discovered, Cooke measured mixing zone DO at both sites of 8.1mg/L.
“Cooke is not required by the DEP permit to track or report DO within the net pen sites. However, they were able to provide data for August 1st to 25th for a single pen at Black Island South. The lowest reported DO levels in the single pen on August 15 and 16 were 4.9 mg/L.”
“Additionally, all pen densities reported to the Department during June, July, and August were within permit limits.
“On September 23, 2021, DEP Enforcement and Compliance staff met to review the permit requirements and the data submitted by Cooke to the Department. As a result of that examination, DEP did not identify any permit violations or violations of the Clean Water Act in relation to the reported fish kill. The Department acknowledges Cooke Aquaculture’s cooperation in this matter, and having found no infractions, has therefore closed the investigation into this matter,” Madore wrote.
QSJ wrote Sept. 18 that Cooke first notified the Department of Marine Resources, which issues the leases for aquaculture, and the DMR at no time informed its sister agency DEP. It took 15 days before DEP staff was able to visit the pens south of MDI.
“Foreign investors are currently seeking permission from the DEP and other agencies to put one of the world’s largest salmon farms in the waters off Acadia National Park,” said Ted O’Meara of Frenchman Bay United, a coalition that is actively working to stop the American Aquafarms proposal.
“Massive die-offs are only one of many serious environmental threats, but the way this incident has been handled so far raises huge questions about the state’s ability to provide proper oversight of an in-water salmon farm that is far bigger than anything Maine has seen before. It looks like we are allowing large companies to call the shots while the public is being kept in the dark about what is happening in our own waters.”
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