Fish farms: no more sorry sites.

• Position: Maine

Pollution from Maine salmon farms has never been subject to the terms and conditions of waste-discharge permits issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. This is about to change, thanks to a CLF-led coalition of environmental organizations.

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) recently concluded a three-day evidentiary hearing at which it took testimony from government officials, environmentalists, and the salmon farming industry. The industry utilizes private, floating pens--feedlot operations that produce Atlantic salmon--in publicly owned coastal waters. As the science concerning the negative environmental impacts of these operations has improved, salmon pens have come under increased scrutiny by organizations such as CLF, and by diverse other groups, including coastal innkeepers and other tourism-related businesses.

Pollutants from these "fish farms" include fecal material and uneaten fish feed, nitrogen and phosphorus, antibiotics, pesticides, and biocides. These can adversely affect marine habitat and water quality, by choking out marine life outside the pens and by contributing to the formation of harmful algal blooms. These pollutants can...