Salmon in Maryland?

A new AquaCon salmon farm proposal is giving some Marylanders deja’vu.

Back in 2022, AquaCon was a hot topic. The Norwegian salmon farming company was eying up Marshyhope Creek in Federalsburg for a new facility. But community members, with support from CBF and other groups, fiercely opposed the effort, because of potential impacts to water quality and habitat for wildlife like the endangered Atlantic sturgeon that spawns in the area.

The facility would have discharged 2.3 million gallons of what’s known as “purge water” into the creek daily—polluting Marshyhope Creek with nutrient-dense discharge that’s rinsed off the salmon every single day.

“We were extremely concerned about the sturgeon,” said Susan Andrew, who lives on the Faulkner Branch of Marshyhope Creek. “The runoff was also a huge concern. Being in such a low laying area, even small development has an impact.”

Not only would this process have highly threatened one of the state’s few known sturgeon spawning grounds, but its pollution would overwhelm a small waterway, and ultimately reach the Nanticoke River and Chesapeake Bay. 

Luckily, strong community pushback and environmental concerns shut the project down. In October 2022, Aquacon withdrew its discharge permit application, which was pending with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).

“We were pleased when AquaCon withdrew its permit application in Federalsburg, but it frankly never should have gotten that far in the first place,” said CBF Advocacy Director, Alan Girard. “Since the company already had sought other locations prior to Federalsburg, we suspected that another proposal might come up again.”

And that’s exactly what happened. 

In September 2024, AquaCon purchased roughly 160 acres at Port Deposit’s Bainbridge development, a former naval training facility, near the Susquehanna River in Cecil County, and soon after applied for a new MDE discharge permit. The permit would allow AquaCon to discharge a maximum of 1.9 million gallons per day of Atlantic salmon purge water from the facility.

Mollie Rudow with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake was also involved in the Federalsburg public hearings, and at the time lived just south of Federalsburg along the Marshyhope. She has a lot of similar questions and concerns as she had back in 2022.

“We could see some potential impacts of the discharge on native fish that spawn in the lower Susquehanna. It’s also really important we understand the impacts of stormwater, and have a comprehensive stormwater management plan for the site,” she said.

“To me, it feels like an even worse location,” Andrew said. “In Federalsburg we had the sturgeon. But here, they’d be discharging right in the top headwaters of the Bay.”

There are some key differences between the two proposals. For one, the Cecil County location does not have the kind of habitat where sturgeon typically spawn, and discharge would go into a larger waterway—the Susquehanna—where potential impacts to water quality and quantity are not the same as in the narrow upper reaches of the Marshyhope.

However, as MDE considers AquaCon’s new discharge permit application, there are several other important factors to evaluate.

Susquehanna Flats

Port Deposit is roughly five miles upstream of the famous Susquehanna Flats vibrant submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds. The flats provide habitat for many of the Bay’s most iconic species including American and hickory shad, blueback herring, and alewife.

Minimizing pollution in the Susquehanna Flats is critical to helping meet the Chesapeake Bay’s SAV restoration goals, and the flats are also an extremely popular area for recreation like fishing and kayaking.

Too much nutrient and sediment pollution in this region can promote algae growth that creates low-oxygen dead zones and reduces water clarity that SAV needs to turn sunlight into food. Discharge from AquaCon’s facility would contribute to the large nutrient loads coming down the Susquehanna River, including from agricultural and urban and suburban runoff. The SAV beds at Susquehanna Flats have been noted for their resilience to storms and other weather disturbances, with a unique ability to bounce back, linked to reduced pollution loads that allow the water to clear and the grasses to rebound. But unlike other sources, AquaCon would produce a steady stream of pollution directly discharged into the river, rather than occasional polluted runoff spurred by rainfall. This could have a devastating effect on the health of the SAV beds, which MDE should closely consider.

Problematic Salmon Farms

Land-based salmon farms have a troubling track record. Most of these plants are found in Europe, where there’s been reports of massive fish die-offs, animal abuse, and widespread water contamination.

One industrial salmon farm in Miami, operated by Atlantic Sapphire, suffered mass die-offs of salmon in 2020 and 2021 that killed more than 600,000 fish. In September 2021, Atlantic Sapphire's pilot plant in Demark, where it was testing technology to raise salmon indoors caught fire and destroyed the facility. The fire created a cloud of smoke that covered neighboring communities and caused a nearby waterway to turn red. Authorities warned citizens in the area not to enter the water due to excessive amounts of iron chloride spilling into the water next to the plant.

There’s also the question of, “what will the salmon eat?” According to NOAA, aquaculture is one of the largest users of harvested small pelagic fish. That could include species like menhaden, which are rich in fatty nutrients. However, menhaden predator populations are struggling in Chesapeake Bay, leading CBF to advocate for further protections for the species to ensure they can fulfill their role in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. MDE should be asking how the facility will prevent and respond to fish kills and other incidents to be protective of water quality and living resources in the Susquehanna, including how many pounds of native fish that AquaCon will take out of the Bay to feed their inventory.

Other Nearby Development Proposals

AquaCon would be just one of many proposed development projects at Port Deposit’s Bainbridge industrial site. It’ll be crucial for MDE to consider how increased commercial development could cumulatively harm the Lower Susquehanna. Exacerbated by climate change and heavier rainfall, stormwater pollution can increase water temperatures and even dead zones in the Bay.

Other development projects between the Lower Susquehanna and North East Rivers, such as the proposed York Building Products mine, should also be considered. Combined, these facilities could overload the Susquehanna Flats with nutrients and be detrimental to the health of the Bay.

Back in 2022, neither AquaCon nor MDE had provided necessary assurances to the people of Federalsburg that the plant’s proposed technology would adequately filter the facility’s discharge. That cannot be the case this time around.

Local and state leaders would be wise to consider the many unresolved issues that caused the Federalsburg proposal to fail. The local community determined that the environmental risks—from habitat loss to water quality—outweighed the economic benefits of the plant. 

“It does seem like they target lower income areas,” Andrews said. “But for such a huge building, there would be very few job opportunities for locals.”

MDE has made a tentative determination on the application, and is currently seeking public comments. On December 16, the agency will hold a public meeting at Elkton Town Hall, which will give residents a chance to ask questions and learn more.

MDE and Cecil County must ensure all potential concerns are fully addressed, and that the Susquehanna Flats will be adequately protected, before backing this project. CBF will be monitoring this project closely.