According to Dr. Drucker the Internet is fascinating. But, the real growth opportunity lies in fish farming. To those of us in the field of aquaculture, it's refreshing to have a visionary with such an incredible track record endorse the work to which we have devoted our careers. But today the fate of fish farming in Maine is being comprised by those who wish to prematurely abandon the State Conservation Plan in lieu of the Endangered Species Act. This is a misuse of ESA and a demoralizing blow to all the public and private organizations that negotiated in good faith to create a plan to restore Atlantic salmon to Maine rivers.
Aquaculture is important to Maine's future.
For those who have not had a chance to travel Down East recently, we are, in fact, a major center for Atlantic salmon farming in America. If Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had had to get permits from four different government agencies every time they wanted to introduce a new product, they would still be working out of their garages. We realize that aquaculture is not the same as the free-wheeling computer industry and we don't we want it to be. We operate using a public resource, Maine's coastal waters. We understand the need for caution, so we work in cooperation with the regulatory process.