PROGRAMS

Aquaculture Business Incubation

Supporting aquaculture startups and established businesses with world-class facilities, expert staff, and business development resources at two University of Maine locations.

In 2001, with financial support from the Maine State Legislature, MAIC and the University of Maine established the Maine Aquaculture Business Incubator Program with facilities at the Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin and the Darling Marine Center in Walpole.

Working primarily with startup firms seeking land-based pilot-scale research and culture facilities, the business incubators provide tank space with flowing and recirculating fresh- and salt-water culture systems to test new culture methods or products. The incubators also provide office space with high-speed connectivity, direct access to University researchers and student interns, business counselors, and access to workshops and entrepreneurship training programs such as the Top Gun entrepreneurship accelerator program.

MAIC also offers incubator tenants assistance in sourcing state, federal, and private research and start-up funding.

Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research

FRANKLIN, MAINE

Visit CCAR's Website

The Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR), located on Taunton Bay in Franklin, Maine, is one of the largest and most advanced aquaculture research and development campuses in the United States. Its 80,000 square feet of facilities span multiple buildings and greenhouses designed to support industry-scale research, innovation, and commercial development.

CCAR operates as a multi-species facility, supporting the culture of finfish, shellfish, and sea vegetables in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments using advanced recirculating aquaculture systems. These technologies allow precise environmental control across a range of conditions, enabling flexible research, demonstration, and commercial-scale trials.

Beyond its technical capabilities, CCAR serves as a hub for aquaculture business incubation, industry collaboration, and workforce development. As part of the University of Maine’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Resources and Engagement (SPIRE), and working through the Department of Industrial Cooperation, the center connects companies, students, and entrepreneurs with university expertise, facilities, and partnership opportunities to help advance aquaculture technologies from concept to commercialization.

Current & Previous Tenants

CURRENT TENANT

Sea & Reef Aquaculture

Cultivation of marine ornamental fish for the aquarium hobbyist market

PREVIOUS TENANT

Springtide Seaweed

USDA Organic seaweed farm and nursery

PREVIOUS TENANT

American Unagi

Large-scale land-based farming of American eel

PREVIOUS TENANT

Kingfish Maine

Land-based RAS facility growing yellowtail kingfish

Darling Marine Center

WALPOLE, MAINE

Visit the DMC's Website

The Darling Marine Center's Aquaculture Business Incubator in Walpole features two 550-square-foot lab/culture spaces adjacent to the newly renovated Flowing Seawater Laboratory. Office spaces are available in the Marine Culture Laboratory, which also houses the SeaCaps® algal culture facility. Industry partners may use a few tanks for a few weeks or months to carry out specific trials, or an entire building for multi-year projects. Field trials on the DMC aquaculture lease may also be arranged.