Maine DMR acquires new ROV to improve aquaculture lease evaluations

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) aquaculture division has purchased a new remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to significantly streamline the evaluation of aquaculture lease applications. The acquisition was funded by a $51,024 grant from the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC).

The DMR is required by law to conduct site visits for all proposed standard and experimental leases to assess the area's characteristics. DMR noted that before 2023, these underwater assessments were mostly completed by scientists using scuba equipment, a time-consuming and labour-intensive process. With a significant increase in lease applications in recent years, the approval process could take up to three years.

In 2023, the division began using an older, 2009-model ROV to improve efficiency. The use of this technology nearly tripled the number of site visits the DMR could complete in a year, rising from twenty visits in 2022 to 52 in both 2023 and 2024. The DMR estimates that the ROV saved the aquaculture division approximately 600 hours of staff time.

With the older ROV beginning to fail, the DMR successfully applied for a grant to purchase a new ROV, which arrived in June. Dr. Amanda Ellis, Director of the DMR's Aquaculture Division, stated that the new ROV includes many features that will not only save time and resources but also have the potential to improve information and data gathering on lease sites.