Bucksport Mill To Be Site Of Salmon Farm

A new owner of the old Verso Mill in Bucksport plans to convert it into a land-based Salmon farm.

Whole Oceans, a Maine-based company run by a Yarmouth native, announced this week that it will be converting the old mill site, with a plan to produce about 20,000 tons of Atlantic salmon each year. A media release on the company's website states that 100% of its production for the next ten years has already been sold.

Bucksport town officials say the plan is to break ground this year. Production at the facility will start in 2019 and the salmon will be matured and ready for purchase two years later. Whole Oceans will invest more than 250 million dollars in Bucksport and expects to create hundreds of jobs initially, with more hires to come as the business grows. This is great news for a town that's struggled since the closure of the mill in 2014.

Whole Oceans is the second company with plans to develop land-based salmon farms in Maine. Nordic Aquafarm announced earlier this year that it intends to build the world's largest land-based salmon farm in Belfast.