Quantifying oyster aquaculture lease acceptance: A case study on repurposed Maine lobster pounds

Oyster aquaculture holds tremendous potential to diversify coastal economies and increase resilience to climate change, but expansion can conflict with other marine resource users. These conflicts are difficult to characterize quantitatively. Here, we developed an analytical framework using difficulty scores to analyze the difficulty of obtaining an oyster aquaculture lease through publicly available application decisions in Maine, USA. We applied this quantitative framework to a case study examining the potential of using existing fishery infrastructure as a means of diversifying working waterfronts. Specifically, repurposing tidal impoundments historically used to store American lobsters (lobster pounds) for oyster aquaculture has been proposed as an actionable method of overcoming obstacles to aquaculture development in Maine. While the environmental suitability of lobster pounds for oyster aquaculture has been established, there has been minimal exploration of potential regulatory or socioeconomic benefits. We assessed the relative difficulty of obtaining a lease for an aquaculture site within a lobster pound compared to a traditional open-water site. Our analysis demonstrated that the enclosed and privately-owned nature of a lobster pound eliminated many issues that commonly arise during oyster farm site selection, including conflict with riparian landowners, impeded navigation, and interference with commercial fishing or other existing water uses. These results provide the first empirical evidence that repurposing vacant waterfront infrastructure like lobster pounds can minimize social, institutional, financial, and logistical barriers to marine aquaculture development.