Maine Aquaculture - Stories of Resilience and Innovation

Eric Oransky grew up in Freeport, Maine. He spent a lot of time on Casco Bay.  When he was 21, he apprenticed with the Scottish master cabinet maker James Bowie for furniture making in northern California. In 2007, at 23, Eric moved back to Maine and started his first business,  all the while spending time on the water any chance he got. He focused on woodworking, including furniture, and building for about seven years. He found he missed working on the water. So, in 2017 he formed Maine Ocean Farms with his two partners, Willy Leathers and Tom Klondenski.

George Parr has been in the seafood business for four decades. He has been instrumental in creating the reputation of Maine oysters. George takes a firm stand when buyers “From Away” come to Maine and try to drive down oyster prices rather than pay a fair price for what many consider to be among the world’s best oysters. His sense of fairness has benefited not just his clients but all of Maine’s oyster growers. George came to Maine from New York City He is candid, funny, and direct. To say George is an interesting character would be an understatement. I quickly realized He has encyclopedic knowledge that he easily draws from. George has probably forgotten more than many people know about the business. He, like his partner Dana Street, has been a significant influence in creating Portland’s well-deserved reputation as one of the best food towns in the U.S. Dana Street has a prestigious portfolio of some of Portland’s best restaurants, Street and Company; Fore Street, with Sam Hayward; Standard Bakery, with Alison Pray, and the Scales Restaurant, on the Maine Wharf next to Upstream Trucking. Upstream Trucking is a seafood-wholesaling business that George runs and That’s where I met George.

In 2010, Abigail Carroll started NONESUCH oysters. It began as a small oyster farm in a nature conservancy in Scarborough, Maine, which just south of Portland. Today Nonesuch Oyster is an award-winning company whose oysters are in found top restaurants across the country.  NONESUCH also offers (which I find interesting) a range of healthy Maine seafood and handmade skincare products made with Maine marine ingredients.

Today we are with Bill Mook,  an industry pioneer who is the founder of Mook Sea Farm, an oyster farm on the Damariscotta River. Bill has been recognized by the Gulf of Maine Council's Sustainable Industry Awards for his efforts to improve the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the coastal communities. He was a member of the Maine Ocean Acidification Commission that convened, wrote, and submitted a report to the Maine Legislature on the effects of coastal and ocean acidification on commercially harvested species grown long Maine’s Coast. He is a tireless advocate for climate change awareness, and how ocean acidification impacts oysters. Bill was a founding member of the Damariscotta River Association Tidewater Watch that served as the model for the Coastwide volunteer monitoring program for pollution. He is a founding member of the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy He has testified to the U.S. Congress about the impacts of ocean acidification and climate change. Bill Mook also serves on Governor Mill's Climate Council.