Canopy Farms located in Brunswick, ME, is a great example highlighting the benefits of aquaponics. Aquaponics is a sustainable method of farming that combines aquaculture with hydroponics. In this episode, we will take a closer look at Canopy Farms' aquaponics system and how it works, as well as the benefits of this sustainable method of farming. We'll also talk about the educational programs and workshops that Canopy Farms offers to promote sustainability.

Check out the details of their science cafes here!

The market in the US for scallops is huge! Dana Morse from Maine Sea Grant talks about the status of Scallop culture in Maine, emphasizing just how much knowledge and care goes into growing these animals. Plus, you can enjoy a little history lesson as well! Maine and Aomori Prefecture, a state in Japan, have a sister-state relationship dating back to 1889 when a ship set sail from Bath, ME. Since then, we've learned a lot from Japan about different grow-out methods, and interesting products you can bring to market (like scallop ice cream !!) Tune in to learn more from Dana!

Atlantic Salmon and Maine’s renewable wood pulp industry may sound like an unlikely duo at first, but Deborah Bouchard and Sarah Turner from the Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI) have recognized the potential this pairing could have for the future of environmental, economic, and social sustainability for the US aquaculture industry. Debbie and Sarah Bouchard are to researching a new generation of safer, more sustainable, and cheaper vaccines for finfish. Here is where Atlantic Salmon meets its unlikely match, wood pulp. This abundant polymer is biocompatible, biodegradable, quite versatile, and easily modified – making it a phenomenal candidate for drug delivery. Tune in to learn more and hear about their results so far!

and Vibrio ordalii. This adjuvant, a component of vaccines to improve and prolong immune

response, showed no evidence of cellular damage and no effects on growth for the fish while

inducing a strong immune and antibody boosting response. With less side effects and cheaper to

manufacture than existing vaccines these preliminary results are exciting, highlighting the efficacy

of nanocellulose adjuvants.

ISAv and V. ordalii alone can cause farmers to lose 90% of their stocks, amounting to over $1

billion annually. Development of this new, safe, and affordable vaccine using nanocellulose is not

only huge for Atlantic salmon farmers but other food production systems as well. This new

generation of low cost, tunable vaccine formulation is paving a way toward more sustainable

aquaculture, with potential applicability for other fish species and even terrestrial animals as well.

Leveraging direct industry support from Cooke Aquaculture, Kennebec River Biosciences,

Benchmark Animal Health LTD, this interdisciplinary team from UMaine’s Aquaculture Research

Institute and the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department has immense experience and

resources relating to fish health, immunobiology, and vaccine formulation. Results will be shared

directly through ARI’s web site, Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant extension

professionals, national conferences, and peer-reviewed publications.

Join me as Matt Hawkyard, Assistant Extension Professor and Finfish Nutrition Specialist from the University of Maine discusses the importance of growing finfish in the United States, and the research that goes into feeding these tiny vertebrates!

Join us as Alicia Gaiero, owner of Nauti Sisters Sea Farm talks about what it's like to be an oyster farmer on a small-scale oyster farm in Yarmouth, Maine. Alicia, an impressive young entrepreneur and talks about the trials, tribulations, and beauty of being out on the water and growing her own product!

Check out her website!

Today I was joined by Robert (Bobby) Harrington - a Research Associate at the Aquaculture Research Institute in Orono, ME to learn about Geosmin and 2 Methylisoborneol (MIB). Tune in to hear about how these compounds present themselves in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and how Bobby's research is helping to eliminate "off-flavor" in fish tissue farmed in these systems.

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This is the first episode of the Aquaculture in Maine Podcast. I spoke with Adam St. Gelais - the Aquaculture Innovation Specialist at the Aquaculture Research Institute in Walpole, ME to learn more about how kelp is farmed, the environmental, economic, and social aspects of the process, and the benefits it could bring us in the face of climate change.

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