Opinion: AquaCon’s Proposed Industrial Salmon Farm Represents a Major Environmental Risk for Maryland

The small yet critically important Marshyhope Creek on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has been targeted for a massive salmon farming facility that poses a serious threat to its water quality and its habitats. The state’s initial attempt to permit AquaCon’s massive Federalsburg facility is grossly deficient. The start-up Norwegian company’s promises about sustainable indoor salmon farming and the economic benefits it would bring to Maryland have not panned out elsewhere in this industry. Instead, the nascent indoor salmon farming industry has been plagued by mass die-offs of fish, lackluster consumer support, and in one case a catastrophic fire that destroyed an industrial salmon production facility in Demark.