The fire broke out Thursday night in the mechanical
room at the Kennebec Hatchery of Atlantic Salmon of
Maine, the state's largest aquaculture business. The
pumping system supplied fresh water to the
approximately 100 circular tanks holding the fish
outside.
Company officials had no immediate estimate of the
monetary loss. The cause of the fire was under
investigation. No injuries were reported.
The hatchery, about 120 miles north of Portland,
contained 740,000 Atlantic salmon smolt ready for
transfer to ocean pens, as well as 2.1 million
Atlantic salmon fry that were to be stocked in ocean
pens this fall and next spring.
On May 9, a federal judge in Portland found the
company in civil contempt for violating a court order
that barred it from stocking smolt in its pens.
The order arose from an environmental lawsuit that
accused Atlantic Salmon of Maine and another salmon
farming business of discharging pollutants such as
excess feed, feces and medication into the ocean
without a permit. U.S. District Judge Gene Carter
ruled against the companies but did not announce
penalties or remedial actions.
Atlantic Salmon of Maine, a subsidiary of
Norwegian-owned Fjord Seafood, also operates a smaller
hatchery near Rangeley.
