Q:  [0:00] We’re recording.

 

Q:  [0:02] Great.  And we like to start by asking how do you like to introduce yourself?

 

A:  [0:04] I’m Lauren Gray.  I run Cranberry Oysters.  It’s a woman-owned woman-run farm, all female staff, five acres in the pool off Great Cranberry Island.  And yeah, it’s like a small to medium-sized oyster farm.

 

Q:  [0:25] Great.  And what year were you born?

 

A:  [0:29] 1984.

 

Q:  [0:32] And can you tell me a little bit about where you grew up?

 

A:  [0:34] I grew up in Buffalo, New York.  It’s a great town, really, really wonderful people.  And I’m actually delivering oysters there.  I made a connection and I ship them out to my hometown, which is a lot of fun.

 

Q:  [0:51] That’s really cool.  Yeah, I’d love to come back to that, ask some more questions about that.  So you grew up in Buffalo, New York.  How did you end up here?

 

A:  [0:58] I went to school at Colby College and I met my husband there.  He grew up on Great Cranberry Island and so we wanted to come back here.  He wanted to run his family boatyard, which he took over with his brother.  And I ended up as the teacher in a two-room schoolhouse, one of two teachers for about five years out here.  And yeah, it was great.  We went from 17 kids to, at one point we had nine.  So different school populations, but it was a great run.

 

Q:  [1:37] Wow, in your husband’s family, I know there are some families that go back a lot of generations here.  Is he a multi-generational Great Cranberry family?

 

A:  [1:47] Or they are, but not in the sense that – Heather Spurling was working on my farm and she was in eighth generation Islander on Little Cranberry Island, which was amazing.  His family, his parents, summered here and then Ed decided to stay.  So his boatyard is second generation.

 

Q:  [2:10] And what about your parents?  Where are they from?  What did they do?

 

A:  [2:12] They’re from Buffalo, New York.  My mom is a teacher and my dad’s a plumber.  They’re retired and still live there and their parents were also from there.

 

Q:  [2:23] Great.  And do you have any siblings?

 

A:  [2:26] I have one sister and she is in Salem Mass and she’s a teacher.  So yeah, three teachers for a little while there and then one bailed out and went into oyster farming.

 

Q:  [2:38] So do you have any history of fishing in your immediate family or extended family?

 

A:  [2:44] Not in my immediate or extended family.  Fishing was something I picked up to make extra money in the summer when I was teaching and I really loved sterning.  I was working on Danny Fernald’s, boat, the Wind Song.  I also fished for Rick Alley on the Island Girl and just realized I really wanted to be out on the water and have a life on an offshore island.  And the career opportunities were a few and far between.  So oyster farming looked better and better.  I heard about it from the Island Institute and my friend Joanna at Bar Harbor Oyster was just getting started and I thought I think I can do that.  I think I can get that going, lobster licenses weren’t available at the time and it wasn’t really a reality.  I think there was a seven year waiting list and I just thought I want to own my own company and run it and so that was the answer for me.

 

Q:  [3:45] And then you mentioned that your husband’s family ran the boat yard so they have a background.  Not in fishing necessarily but in like water – boats.

 

A:  [3:53] Yes, yeah, a strong background in water and boats.  And I had that background as well just driving boats as like a young person.  So it felt pretty comfortable.  But yeah, I think in the in the boat business there’s a lot of moving boats around so that was accessible and just having waterfront access was huge in the beginning.

 

Q:  [4:18] And then this we have covered this to some extent but just to kind of ask the question, to give you a chance if it brings you thing else up for you – so not only do you have any history of fishing in the family but do you have any history in your family or your husband’s family of sort of other roles in the fishing sector such as boat keeping, fish processing, marketing, working with bait or gear.

 

A:  [4:40] I don’t believe so.  Yeah.

 

Q:  [4:43] The boat side.

 

A:  [4:45] Yeah, boat side, definitely but no one in the fishing industry.  My husband’s siblings, one of them, his oldest sister works for – I believe the National Science Foundation making trips to Antarctica.  And so she’s a really badass lady doing really cool things with like massive boats on research missions.  But that wasn’t something that experienced firsthand.  I would just hear about her amazing journeys.

 

Q:  [5:20] And then you mentioned Colby, going to Colby could you describe a little like your educational background?

 

A:  [5:26] Yeah, I was an anthropology and writing major and really didn’t know what to do with myself and was taking an end of your quiz on what would be like a good job match, and apple farming was my number one match and I just thought, oh my goodness, I just paid so much money to go to this school.  And now my number one match is an apple farmer like how am I going to make this work? And just sort of dismissed it.  And I just look back on that and I think it’s so funny because oyster farming, I think, is pretty similar to apple farming.  There’s just the element of the water and the ocean.  So it’s a lot of paying attention, a lot of – yeah, tending to various things and a lot of tedious and physical labor.

 

Q:  [6:21] That’s hilarious that apple farming was an option.

 

A:  [6:24] I know it just seemed so random that that’s what the test selected.

 

Q:  [6:29] Well suited to your role, and so you mentioned  – we have a question are you married?  You’ve mentioned I think that you are?

 

A:  [6:37] Yes, yeah, I met my husband in college and we ended up coming back here to his his like family island and kind of trying to make it work.  Kind of working here summers and working on the mainland and then we finally really committed to moving out to Little Cranberry Island when I got the teaching job.

 

Q:  [6:59] And what year was that, the teaching job?

 

A:  [7:03] Oh, that’s a great question.  It must have been 2013, I want to say perhaps 2012, 2013.  My friend – I was doing some subbing and my friend who was teaching at the time went out on maternity leave to have her baby and I jumped in and then she didn’t return the next year and I got the job.

 

Q:  [7:31] And do you have any children?

 

A:  [7:33] I don’t.  Just dogs, rescue dogs.

 

Q:  [7:38] OK, so I’m going to shift a little more to stuff you started to talk but to dive into more like your role in the sector of the farm.  So how would you describe your role in the fishing or aquaculture industry in Maine?

 

A:  [7:50] I started my farm as pretty much a single owner operator.  My husband was helping me just sort of get squared away and make some connections and like basically use his resources to get my farm off the ground.  And I ran it that way just kind of finding friends to help for a while.  And now we’re about a medium size farm.  We put 350,000 oyster seeds in the water every year and I have five employees part-time, all women and yeah, we distribute pretty much on Mount Desert Island and then just made some new connections where we distribute to Boston and then they go out from there.

 

Q:  [8:44] So you also mentioned Buffalo, right?

 

A:  [8:47] Buffalo, yeah, so that’s how I made my Buffalo connection.  I’ve been distributing through Wulfs in Boston and a childhood friend really wanted to get my oysters to Buffalo for an event he was having and so Wulf’s was able to make that connection and get them there.  Now they’re one of my biggest buyers which is really neat and it’s just it’s just very cool to see that full circle connection because I never thought how am I going to get oysters to Buffalo.  It just sort of found me and happened and Buffalo has a huge – they import a lot of seafood so it’s very popular there so.

 

Q:  [9:28] That’s really cool.

 

A:  [9:29] Yeah.

 

Q:  [9:30] To your hometown?

 

A:  [9:31] Yeah.

 

Q:  [9:32] And so you’ve kind of already covered this rest but maybe if you can just – if it brings anything else up or you want to recap, how did you get into your work with a aquaculture and not have the family background but (multiple conversations; inaudible) –

 

A:  [9:44] Yeah, so I was teaching and with the island school, it’s a two-room schoolhouse and kids go there from K thru 8.  That was how it was at the time that I was teaching.  Now they go off island for seventh and eighth grade.  But I knew I couldn’t stay as the teacher forever  – the kids that I started with they’d had me for five years as their teacher and it was all going well.  I loved the job but I didn’t think that I could stay in that position for 20-25 years so I was fishing summers.  I knew I wanted to start my own business and I just had learned about different forms of aquaculture. I think the Island Institute had some sort of advisory group so I jumped in and took a few classes with them and just started researching.  Joanna was getting her farm off the ground and I went over and started working for her a bit just learning how they were putting gear in the water, helping her out.  And yeah, then I just decided to try it here and it was different – it’s a different environment, we’re three miles offshore.  Each farm is so unique so you just have to figure out your challenges and there’s not a lot of people telling you how it’s done.  It’s not like jumping in a lobster boat and having all these people in your community kind of helping you out and showing you the ropes.  There wasn’t anybody doing it out here so the two lobster men that I’d worked with were incredibly helpful in just coming up with ideas and good locations for me.  So I went and applied for limited purpose aquaculture site just to get started.  And yeah, that’s how I got off the ground.

 

Q:  [11:43] What year did you get your LPA?

 

A:  [11:47] 2016.

 

Q:  [11:49] And then from there you’re a permanent leaser – what year would that have been? A year or two later?

 

A:  [11:53] The standard lease, I didn’t get that until it was probably about 2020 – 2019, 2020. It’s a long process but I felt really happy because I had 100% support from my community from the people who showed up at my hearing.  And I met all 10 of the lease criteria so it just felt like a huge win that I had all that community support and people really wanted to see something happen here.  I think the Cranberry Isles were unique in that respect, that they want to see industry and people working here year-round and they realized that’s really important for the vitality of the island.

 

Q:  [12:37] So were you the first aquaculture sea farmer out here on the Cranberries?

 

A:  [12:41] That it’s I think we were about tied.  Janice Murch, a summer resident – she had started a farm with a lobsterman, Scott Bracy, kind of managing her farm and they still exist.  They’re doing more bottom culture and I think they have an LPA that’s in the pool.  So she was here and she also has some other interesting projects.  She’s got like an apple orchard and she runs a general store or owns a general store.  Hollie Stanley runs it so.

 

Q:  [13:17] Often I know the leasing or the review process for leases there can be a lot of contestation around, but it sounds like you’re saying it was really embraced here on the islands.  Like you granting your lease and starting even though there hadn’t been a lot of aquaculture here before.

 

A:  [13:31] Yeah, people definitely had a lot of questions.  The hearing went on for a long time but they were supportive.  I think the funniest one was just that they thought that oyster farms caused red tide so just like clearing up a lot of misunderstandings.  And I think it helped that I had been lobstering and had gotten a lot of advice from lobstermen on like a location that wouldn’t be interfering with lobster.

 

Q:  [14:04] And so you have a standard lease do you own any other or do you hold any other commercial fishing licenses.

 

A:  [14:10] I have a five trap license for lobster that I just used.  I also ran the Little Cranberry Yacht Club Community Sailing And Education Foundation for a few years and that was really fun because I got to get kids out on the water and one part of it was sailing but the majority of things that we did while I was there was just to explore the ocean.  So we got to fish for lobster check out the oyster farm and just do all kinds of fun projects to see what was growing in the in the ocean around them.

 

Q:  [14:44] That’s great.  And do you have any experience in the industry beyond direct harvesting, for example bookkeeping, bait and gear preparation, theservice processing, marketing, or trade?

 

A:  [14:56] It’s a do-it-all kind of thing so yeah I definitely keep the books.  This is the first year that I have hired someone to help me with that.  With marketing, there’s  oysters – (inaudible) really importation and farmer that’s all contributing to such a unique product.  So just trying to make your product stand out as something really incredible to get the recognition it should. All that’s through Instagram and social media.  I think  – yeah bookkeeping and then all the different hats you wear like building gear, boat maintenance, you kind of have to just jump in and do it all I think when you’re getting started.  And then as you get rolling kind of like divvy up different tasks for people that you bring on.

 

Q:  [15:52] Definitely and do you have any experience in advocacy or community based organizations related to fisheries or aquaculture?

 

A:  [15:59] Well I just joined this DMR Aquaculture Advisory Group, which I’m excited about just because of these new regulation changes and how they affect different people.  I’m excited to represent a small to medium size farm on an offshore island.  I think that’s a pretty rare thing but we’re here there’s more than one so.

 

Q:  [16:21] Really quickly, I’m going change the batteries in these.  (multiple conversations; inaudible)  And then this hasn’t come up but if in case it brings anything up for you in terms of other roles in the fishing and aquaculture, do you have any background in research and development or working the hatchery side?

 

A:  [16:40] Yes, so I taught science when I was the teacher at the schoolhouse for K-thru-8 and I love research and just asking questions and running experiments.  So I pursued a couple of grants just to focus on that and so I have a SARE grant this year, Northeastern SARE and I’m experimenting with growing urchins and oysters side by side as companion species.

 

Q:  [17:14] (inaudible) really cool and what a SARE stand for?

 

A:  [17:19] Yeah, I’m sure.  So Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education I’m guessing but that’s a guess.

 

Q:  [17:28] So how is that going?  Where are you at in the process of experimenting with that?

 

A:  [17:32] It’s been really difficult.  I was very excited about the grant and had done some  previous research just sort of on my own just asking questions because the big  –one of the biggest things that you have to contend with in farming is biofouling and that’s what a large amount of our time goes into.  Pressure washing, trying to keep things clean so the oysters are still growing and it was neat to look at some options for companion species.  And I started talking to Luz Kogson and she’s at the Center for Aquaculture Research and she thought it was really unique that I’d been seeing urchins on my farm. I’m in a cold water site because we’re offshore so she was like that’s really neat you should you should just scoop them up and just see if you could put them in some cages see what happens just unofficially.  So that’s how it began and then this year we have a whole scientific procedure.  The amount of time that we’re dedicating to that experiment is huge.  I think it’s how I want to be spending my time so I love that but I really appreciate that they have these grants to make that happen while you’re still trying to run a business because then I can put some of them on the  measuring and weekly check-ins.  And that’s it’s just been fun to like watch it unfold. And the urchins are living, they’re still alive they’re  – and so are the oysters that was one of the concerns was how small can the oysters be before the urchins are able to actually damage them or eat them.  So we got through stage one and I think the urchins are kind of focused on the biofouling .

 

Q:  [19:26] That’s (inaudible) interesting do you think  – do you have any predictions yet as to whether that’s something you’ll sustain in the future like whether it’ll have been worth it?

 

A:  [19:36] Yeah. I think one thing that’s troubling is that the type of farm I have is a flip farm and we have to just to bake the biofouling off.  We flip that oyster cage and the oyster survive they can be out of water for 24 hours no problem, the urchins cannot. So it’s neat like the experiment that I have going on right now just has the cages submerged in the water to make it work.  To make it work in the future I was kind of secretly hoping that the urchins would be farmable and that I could also just grow them and have this additional product to have some diversity on my farm.  And I’m hoping that that’s still a possibility.  I’m not sure what kind of problems I would run into with just farming urchins alone, but yeah I think that so far it’s been working and we’ll just see at the end of the growing season if they were able to enhance the growth on the oysters.  If that’s the case then I can see a lot of people really wanting to have urchins on their farm.

 

Q:  [20:46] It’s really interesting.  Do you have any – in terms of experience in the sector too, have any experience with like food service food preparation or kind of customer interface with seafood which could include shucking events?

 

A:  [20:58] Yes, (inaudible) Maine and initial phases and the advice from my mentor was do not try to you know get into all the things.  Well now that I’m down the road and oyster margins are low just farming and producing a lot of oysters is pretty difficult and so you can see why farmers diversify and have tours and shucking events.  So we jumped in and we have one biweekly shucking event this year at The Salt Market, but really so much of my focus has just been on dialing in the farming. And I do appreciate that advice I think that was really golden when you’re getting started in the beginning you just want to have a hand in everything.  It was great to hear don’t do that just focus and do one thing well.

 

Q:  [21:52] Is it something you imagine you might do more of in the future.

 

A:  [21:56] Yes, I think it’s fun – someone that’s out there growing this product that I really believe in.  It’s fun to watch people enjoy it and engage and taste oysters for the first time or say like wow, I really had these other ones and they tasted completely different and be able to explain to them why that’s happening.  And I think that’s a part that I enjoy as a farmer, so it is exceptionally difficult being offshore on an island but we’ve made it in.  I think like the women that I’m farming with enjoy that customer interface as well.

 

Q:  [22:37] Great.  And this will probably be hard question for a small business owner but if you could describe what an average day of work looks like for you and you can pick sort of different seasons too if you wanted to give us like a contrast of how that might look different throughout the year.

 

A:  [22:51] Absolutely.  So the beginning of the day is like just getting to my farm is a challenge.  It’s very tidal and I have women that work on or live on Islesford and women that live on Great Cranberry and when the tide is out I can’t pick everybody up.  So I have to have different activities going, some shore some on water and we have to know the time when the tide is going to fill to roughly 3.5 to 4 feet and that’s when we can actually get in and get everybody together. So it’s a lot of logistical – like usually the night before I’m thinking out who’s going to be where and doing what. When we get into the pool we go to our float which is on our standard lease and it’s a three-sided shed and we usually start one of many processes like tumbling oysters to chip off that outer edge of the shell or sort them by size.  We do hand sorting for market size oysters.  We usually have somebody get no wetsuit and start swim flipping all the cages.  We started doing that just because it’s not as hard on your body.  And then we have people building gear or pressure washing in shore just to keep things clean, keep all that algae and sea lettuce and all different kinds of kelp from overtaking the whole farm. Yeah, and then we’re also bagging ice now and getting all that ready so that’s like a typical day.  And then as we get toward the end of the week we start running oysters for different pickups for market, so we have to get them to the mainland and that’s a big process because we have to be able to get to the oysters.  So if the tide is out we’ve got to have everything pre-planned in coolers, ice and coolers the night before ready to go.  We have to do a slurry now which is you mix sea water with the ice to cool down the oysters really quickly and that’s all of the new Vibrio regulations.  And once we have that all done then we head for the mainland and meet our vendors and yeah, just send them off to different restaurants.

 

Q:  [25:23] You also do – do you a little direct consumer pickup.  I mean I saw there’s a cooler app just before this, is that sort of just on a case by case basis or do you do that as part of the business model?

 

A:  [25:34] I am stuck a little bit because I don’t have the seafood sorting facility which is necessary for you to basically sell direct to consumer.  So that’s been really challenging.  I don’t have an ability like if someone comes and asks me for oysters, my neighbor I can’t sell them to them.  And you can’t sell out of your home during the Vibrio months, July and August. And so, yeah, I have to be able to sell to an enhanced retail establishment and so I’m able to sell to the Islesford Dock restaurant and the Cranberry Co-op.  Both of those are on Little Cranberry Island so it’s been really challenging – people know about my farm from both islands and I can’t really sell on Great Cranberry right now and it’s been frustrating just to have people that have supported me from the beginning not be able to buy my oysters, but that’s where we’re at just for the season.  And I’m hoping the DMR has some things in the works to open that up so that we’re able to sell again to neighbors and friends.

 

Q:  [26:47] Because Great Cranberry doesn’t even have a facility that would meet that standard?

 

A:  [26:52] They had the general store the Cranberry General Store.  It burned down, tragically, and then they rebuilt it within the year but it’s just been getting going so it’s a hope for the future that I can start selling there again, but right now it’s not happening.

 

Q:  [27:14] So shifting a little bit how do you feel your background or identity shapes your work in the fishing and aquaculture industry including how others perceive or treat you?

 

A:  [27:25] My background and identity can you repeat that question?

 

Q:  [27:28] Yeah, so it could be if you want to speak to your identity as a woman or other   aspects of your identity or your background as somebody from away.  Or, yeah, any of those things that come to mind for you, the answer (inaudible) that you don’t feel like it does but just anything that brings up for you in terms of (music) – sorry –

 

A:  [27:47] – oops sorry yeah – so I think kind of going back to what I was talking about before with having the support for my community I think a lot of that just had to do with putting some time in and being a part of this community for a little bit.  I was the teacher here and also just wore various hats and was lobster fishing so I think my idea for having an oyster farm was well received.  It would maybe be a little bit more alarming with someone that hadn’t been here for very long but I think people often comment about being a woman in the aquaculture industry and I have had so much support. I think there’s an incredible group of fishermen on the Cranberry Isles that are part of the Cranberry Co-op and they have daughters and wives and mothers and we’re just so excited to see me become a part of the fishing industry and so curious.  They’re environmentalists and they love just learning about business and what could grow in the water and I think sea farming was really intriguing and new for a lot of those guys.  So a ton of support and I think it was really an advantage to be female and starting a business on the water on the Cranberry Isles.  I don’t think that’s the case everywhere but I think that I had an advantage in that way.

 

Q:  [29:45] Great, and how does your role in the fishing or aquaculture sector work with any family or caregiving responsibilities you may have?

 

A:  [29:54] I think when I was starting my farm I didn’t have a mission to have all women working for me but I do think that it sort of ended up that way in the early years because women on the island were wearing all these different hats and had to be piecing different jobs together to make their lives work.  And so when I was looking for part-time labor people were really ready to sign up and happy to go work on the water and wanted that experience boating.  And those people were women so it worked out well and we just started having fun with that and I think it helped distinguish the brand too just to know that it was a really supportive and inclusive environment.  So I think kind of referencing that that caregiving is with female caregivers just having to have more flexible schedules and be able to inshore quickly for signing up to go offshore and fish and not have any flexibility in their day.  Oyster farming just lended itself well to that just being a little bit closer in.

 

Q:  [31:21] Great thank you so shifting to questions sort of about environmental changes things you’ve observed in your time and how those might be affecting you can you describe any changes in the marine environment that you’ve noticed?

 

A:  [31:35] Well I would say the storms I think coming off of this last winter that was something I hadn’t seen before and a lot of people commented – fishermen that have been here for years saying they had never seen southerly storms of that magnitude again and again and again throughout a single season.  So that was pretty scary and kind of a wake-up call to realize climate change is affecting us.

 

Q:  [32:08] And can you describe for us so we have it on the recording  – you were telling –showing us some of the damage it did to this building we’re in right now.  Could  you describe how the storm impacted your business?

 

A:  [32:17] Yes absolutely, so it was January I think when the first one really hit and the tide –just the surge was so huge so things that I’d had kind of back from the water I had to scramble down here and pull further back, gear, equipment.  I had all my cages on the bottom thankfully but just the swell affecting my float that was grounded out on the high tide and just picking that up and slamming it on the shore.  Bringing all kinds of debris in, whole telephone poles.  Everything was just getting washed up and I have this waterfront building that I rent and that was just  – the walls were just pummeled and completely the inside flooded and one of the corners was actually picked up and shifted and it’s a rickety old building so it’s like barely standing as it is.  So just the amount of damage that that single storm caused was just huge and they’ve had lovely grants and opportunities for people working waterfront to be rebuilt.  Unfortunately we didn’t really fall in the category but you know the the building’s still standing so I’m thankful for that.

 

Q:  [33:51] Is there anything you’ve done to kind of respond to that – those impacts or adapt perhaps to the future of potentially more storms?

 

A:  [34:00] Yes, so I think just the way I’m sinking my oysters will change and also the mooring setups that I have were all based for northerly storms and I’m definitely thinking more about that south facing direction and how I can make sure everything’s really fastened down.

 

Q:  [34:22] And do you think those changes you’ve made are helping or is it sort of too soon to tell?

 

A:  [34:31] Too soon to tell, everything’s kind of in process.  I just got another huge mooring rock and some chain and all those things have to be set out on the farm.  I think  just making sure those anchoring systems are really intact and also making sure everything is down on the bottom, because you know that one hit in January but I was still farming through December.  So just knowing that one of those storms could hit and really take out what I have out there.

 

Q:  [35:02] A big, huge heat risk.  In addition to storms are there any other changes in the marine environment that you’ve noticed that might be impacting your work?

 

A:  [35:10] I haven’t noticed any Vibrio bacteria personally that hasn’t showed up on my farm but that’s statewide and that has definitely impacted our process.  Just the marine regulations, Vibrio’s naturally occurring in the ocean environment and multiplies over 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the ocean temperature is higher than 50 in the summer so when we get the oysters out of the water we have to really cold plunge them to bring that temperature down make sure Vibrio isn’t developing within the shell just the ocean water that’s in the shell. So that means a lot of ice and being a small, medium-sized farm on an offshore island I did not have access to a well, a building that’s heated to store all this equipment, this ice making equipment and freezers but I had to just make it work so I’ve got two different ice machines.  I wasn’t able to go to a gas station and buy ice.  There’s no gas station here and obviously that would hurt my margins even more to be paying for ice every time I harvest.  So everything’s really heavy also.  So I have deliveries with these sort of cold water ice and sea water mixes and we’re trying to lift coolers that are full of water and oysters and ice and that’s difficult.  Luckily we have hoists in Northeast Harbor and that’s something we’re going to be looking at is just having equipment like big insulated coolers that can be lifted with hoists rather than two women wheeling them up the dock.   So just like kind of bracing ourself for heavier work ahead.

 

Q:  [37:09] And then with Vibrio you mentioned that you all haven’t actually experienced any  challenges with it but the new regulations – do you feel like those are linked to climate change or environmental change?

 

A:  [37:21] Absolutely, yeah we were not a Vibrio control zone but with the warming water there was an increasing concern for that and I think they had found Vibrio in Maine last year and that’s what prompted the DMR to really make these changes for consumer safety.  So everything’s been going well this summer, all the farms have been posting about doing their cold plunges and ice slurries and so I think you know people are optimistic and that’s good.

 

Q:  [37:56] Are there any other changes in the marine environment you want to tell us about?

 

A:  [38:03] I guess people tell me about seeing different species showing up.  I don’t have anything that’s particularly present in my mind.  I know this year was a big mussel set year and we’ve had a lot of problems with barnacles.  I don’t know that those are necessarily new but just kind of part of what’s happening and I’m sure enhanced by warming water.  Better growth.

 

Q:  [38:35] Just dealing with the biofouling.

 

A:  [38:37] Yeah.

 

Q:  [38:38] So in terms of the things you’ve tried to kind of respond to these changes and you’ve described a few things.  What has made it possible for you to kind of make those changes or adaptations to your business?  For example are there resources you’re drawing on – relationships, knowledge training or organizations that have been helpful for you?

 

A:  [38:58] Yeahm the Island Institute’s been really helpful they have a Tom Glenn Impact Fund that is a small grant but it’s just if you can apply for that and get $2,500 to support buying a piece of equipment that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to purchase that’s huge.  So I’ve been the recipient of that grant multiple times.  And then I’m also looking at using one of their grants for putting solar panels on my farm so that we can run more of these processes like our pressure washing without using a generator which would be a more enjoyable workplace for us and also better for the environment without that engine running all the time.

 

Q:  [39:45] (inaudible).  And then in terms of kind of the new moorings and that you’re trying –did that just mean kind of drawing on the resources of the business or kind of what made that possible?

 

A:  [39:57] A lot of that is me being very scrappy.  So a friend was selling his sailboat – getting rid of his mooring.  I have some friends that have been very supportive and their mooring inspection business and have like cut pieces of chain for me that I can piece together with shackles.  So a lot of it’s really scrappy.  It’s not like there’s any additional money there it’s just it’s a new challenge to invent and make something work.

 

Q:  [40:34] And do you feel that you’ve been able to make the adaptations and changes that you want to your business to kind of respond to these environmental changes that you’re experiencing or are there some kinds of adaptations you wish you could make but haven’t been able to?

 

A:  [40:49] Oh yes, everything feels out of reach all the time.  I think with being in the oyster business – it’s not really – there’s not huge margins, especially with the small farm. So I would love to have a seafood sorting and processing facility and obviously the cost of land and putting up a building and all those things are just so insurmountable so there’s always more to do.  And I think kind of just trying to take it a year at a time and hang in there is the philosophy I have at the moment.  I would love to be able to have more options for selling products and yeah, that means having that type of facility and having that permit to be able to sell direct to consumer.

 

Q:  [41:40] And then I think – so this has come out in how you’ve answered other questions, but I just wonder if there’s anything you want to say about how doing this work on an offshore unbridged island – like how those environmental changes make – different for somebody like you then somebody onshore?

 

A:  [41:56] Yeah, just that I think feeling like a bug on a windshield when you’re on an offshore island is like the turbulence of just trying to get to the mainland to drop product off.  And if there’s high winds and I’m trying to get oysters to shore it’s one thing to have a 19-foot Carolina skiff on your farm, it’s another thing to try to try to make that gap, the three mile gap to Northeast Harbor to meet a truck in a small boat in the middle of winter.  So just trying to draw on resources and borrow and use different things that that people are willing to give and provide I think  – yeah I’ve had to really lean on my husband’s business and the resources that he has he and his brother and his family have just been so incredibly supportive in doing that.  I think it just feels like everything has to be bigger and buttoned down and ready to take on like big winds and big seas.  So you wouldn’t think that it would feel that way when we’re we don’t feel that far away from the mainland but it definitely is a journey.  But even just like washing oysters when it’s so cold out and just being able to have some protection from the wind and all that kind of stuff.

 

Q:  [43:28] And what do you feel like is your biggest concern about the marine environment for the future of Maine’s fisheries and aquaculture industries?

 

A:  [43:37] I think I’m really worried about being a small farmer and being priced out.  Just the avenues and what I’m able to sell and where.  I have to distinguish my product from somebody that’s growing a million or two million oysters a year.  I really want to show that it’s hand grown and sorted and it’s basically an heirloom product and to be able to do that I have to have a higher price point. But I’m kind of being forced into the avenues that all these other bigger growers are using as well, so I can’t really with the licensing that I have, go to farmers markets.  I can’t do that without a Facility.  I can’t sell direct to a lot of restaurants because the hassle of having the enhanced retail license just isn’t worth it for them, so losing sort of the local support in restaurants just because the regulations can become kind of difficult for them is tough.  It’s not that I don’t believe in them I think they’re there for a reason and I support being part of the systems that the DMR has in place.  I think I just have to be thinking creatively about how I can still get my product out there with my brand in a way that that makes it special.

 

Q:  [45:07] And then following up on that if you could tell policymakers in Maine kind of what the biggest priority or priorities should be to kind of help people in the industry kind of adapt some challenges what would you tell them?

 

A:  [45:19] I think that kind of creating – I know like different farmers use seafood facilities together and have that sort of partnership and just being able to sort of accommodate the little guy so that there are – you can have farming at different scales.  We don’t want to see kind of just all these massive farms that are wonderful but it’s like great to celebrate small growers too so I think just making sure that there’s some loopholes or windows that they can kind of create a small scale system and still follow all the rules.

 

Q:  [46:05] Great thank you.  And have you participated in any climate resilience or adaptation trainings or programs for fishing or aquaculture industry.

 

A:  [46:16] I haven’t, no – yeah that would be lovely, I would love to participate in something like that.

 

Q:  [46:23] What strategies do you think would be effective in building resilience against climate related impacts in fisheries or aquaculture?

 

A:  [46:30] I guess, yeah, just it would be great to see  – to hear more about like what predictions and changes are ahead and I think just hearing – like obviously our water temperature up here is much colder than it is in southern Maine and so you can be looking at just going a few hours south like what are people seeing there.  Sharing information, sharing strategies and I think this is a great industry and people are really supportive of each other and willing to do that.

 

Q:  [47:04] Now we’ve asked questions about kind of specific environmental changes but are there just other types of changes we didn’t talk about in marine environments specifically that are impacting your work that you want to tell us about?

 

A:  [47:16] Oh other types of changes that are impacting my work.  Nothing – I guess like nothing that’s on the horizon immediately but I do worry about just changing geography and what my farm is even going look like in a few years because I have this really special tidal inlet that has kind of these barriers that create warm water, the pool fills, and it warms and I think it’s a great location for growing oysters.  I definitely saw those seawalls being knocked down and the high tides coming like right a foot up to the height of what was remaining and just thinking like this is really – this could look like a different body water.  And something that would be less advantageous for me.  I would not have the protection from the offshore water coming in that I have now.  So yeah, just worried about geography and erosion I think are like the big things that I’m thinking about.  And those things are really beyond my control.  So – yeah.

 

Q:  [48:41] So kind of an infrastructure being able to kind of like be sustained with those changes and keep your site – and like a ideal site.

 

A:  [48:52] Yeah, I think like if I lose even a few degrees in temperature which I gain from just having a protected tidal inlet – the growth of my oysters would change radically so they would really slow down and it would be a longer growing season.  And the longer your oysters stay on your farm the more costly it is.  It’s not necessarily bad for your product.  Cold water oysters tastes delicious but it would be tough to have a longer growing season for sure.

 

Q:  [49:29] And about how long does it take you to grow an oyster a market (inaudible)?

 

A:  [49:34] It already takes me four years so I already have a really cold water growing site and I think people recognize that and love it and definitely now remark on the flavor.  But if oysters are hanging around for longer it just means more equipment more labor – yeah just more care and handling.  So that’s intimidating.

 

Q:  [50:00] (inaudible).  Can you describe any opportunities or positive changes you might have experienced in the industry during your time?  Kind of any positive changes?

 

A:  [50:09] I think there is a more  attention toward aquaculture – or just in the beginning from when I started in 2016 until now.  There’s just more awareness about the fact that people are growing different species and the popularity of different species is growing,  and the products that are available especially with kelp and that’s really neat.  I think that all helps to think about consumers making choices about sustainable proteins or sustainable products and keeping clean oceans.  It’s great to see people understanding more about the different flavors that they experience with oysters and indulging in oysters because they know that oysters filter water and are great for the environment.  And you can eat oysters and feel good about it.

 

Q:  [51:07] Great have you noticed any changes in kind of women’s participation or roles in the sector in your time?

 

A:  [51:13] Yes, I think there are so many women-owned farms and I think that’s wonderful especially small scale farms and people getting started.  I think the barriers to participation are not as high as with lobstering because you can start with a really small boat and you can stay pretty close to shore as you gain experience.  And I just think that’s wonderful to see and I think woman-owned farms create great products.  So –

 

Q:  [51:43] Thank you. What would you describe as your hopeful vision for the future of Maine’s coastal fisheries and aquaculture?

 

A:  [51:51] My hopeful vision?  I guess better distribution.  I think that’s been such a challenge about keeping products in Maine and especially up by us.  I think they’ve got great things going on in southern Maine and distribution to local restaurants.  And I think Joanna’s got that going for Mount Desert Island but we don’t really have much of a connection to Portland even.  It feels worlds away so just looking at strengthening that Maine brand by creating better distribution and keeping product in state and creating different price points for different farms.  I think that is a hope of mine.  I love when people recognize my product as being something really special and are willing to pay for that that helps me as a farmer hire people and have the support I need to keep the farm going.

 

Q:  [52:55] Great, thank you.  Is there anything else you want to share with us?

 

A:  [53:02] I can’t think of anything – yeah I guess that’s probably it.  I just think it’s a great industry and it’s really supportive and it’s wonderful to see people farming on the ocean.  I think it’s a win for everybody.

 

Q:  [53:25] Is there anything you wanted to ask or (inaudible)?

 

A:  [58:28] No.

 

Q:  [53:29] Wonderful, I’ll go ahead and end the recording then.

 

A:  [53:31] Thank you.

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