BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 28, 2025
By the time Nordic Aquafarms announced this month that it was pulling the plug on its $500 million salmon farm in Belfast, the decision felt almost inevitable. Over seven years, the company had invested millions in the project, which had received necessary permits and once enjoyed enthusiastic support from city officials for the economic benefits it could have brought. But the fish farm also faced fierce opposition from local landowners and environmental activists, culminating in a string of legal defeats in recent years that had closed off any obvious path forward. For Judith Grace and Jeffrey Mabee, the local couple who played a key role in stopping the project, Nordic’s departure feels less like victory than an inevitable step in a bitter, David-and-Goliath fight they wish could have been avoided in the first place.