Two groups, the Island Institute and the Pemaquid Oyster Company, are training fishermen and small-scale entrepreneurs on shellfish culture techniques. New entrants into the aquaculture industry are likely to be in the shellfish sector where initial investments are low. Two firms grow a Japanese species of nori in floating nets. The nori is clipped from the nets and processed into sheets of dried nori for the domestic sushi market. A potential new market for nori is as a raw material for the pharmaceutical industry.
Maine is fortunate to have high tides and high-energy storms that flush wastes from farms.
However, potential environmental problems warrant continued or expanded monitoring and research. To date, Maine has successfully balanced development of aquaculture with maintaining the integrity of the marine environment and allowing a variety of uses to flourish along Maine's coast. As the aquaculture industry continues to grow, these issues should be monitored to ensure that this balanced remains. While suspension culture is the method of choice in Prince Edward Island, Spain, Portugal, Scotland and New Zealand, only two or three sea farmers in Maine have tried it. The Mussel Working Group hopes to grow mussels more quickly with the suspension technique.