The Fish are Okay
Donation protected
The Fish Are Okay exists to represent the people of Belfast and beyond who believe that Nordic Aquafarms has to come to Belfast with good intentions, a solid plan and a desire to fit in well with the community's goals for itself. We believe that the city and the state and federal agencies that oversee this application are competent and faithful to our collective well-being and if they give it the green light, there should be no other reasons to object.
Local Citizens for Smart Growth (LCSG) and Upstream Watch (UW) claim the opposite: that the company is harmful in intent and application and that city and agency officials and even independent experts are all somehow collectively either duped or unduly influenced or just plain wrong and these groups have pledged, as at least one prominent member put it "to stop Nordic from building at all costs". They have also claimed that they speak for "the silent majority" of the community.
The Fish Are Okay endeavor to show that there is no "silent majority", that there may even be a majority of Belfast citizens who have no objections to Nordic. In order to make this point, we need to talk to people, we need to provide material to support our claims, we need to provide material so that advocates can collectively show their support. So we are asking for some financial backing to print posters and flyers, to have lawn signs and bumper stickers and window decals made and perhaps other things will prove useful in making our case.
Why are we doing this? The labors of LCSG and UW have, indeed, had success in delaying Nordic's timeline - they are now a year behind and that is largely influenced by legal and social actions taken by these two groups and individuals affiliated with them. Actions, we'd like to point out, ultimately came out not in favor of the opposition's claim, but nonetheless threw sticks in the wheel and delayed the project at what can only be astronomical cost to the company. We know the cost to the city to be significant.
Furthermore, these groups have made claims that Nordic will have negative socioeconomic impact on the area and that "no one wants them here". These are points that would hold some consideration in the DEP application and others, especially if that is the only private-sector voice they heard from. This is our most important reason for formal organization: to point out that while there are community members making negative claims, there are also community members who believe this to be a good thing.
Not only these agencies dealing with this particular project, but the entire state is watching Belfast to see how this develops to determine whether land-based aquaculture is or is not a good industry for Maine. Billions of dollars of investment could head to Maine. Or not, depending on how hard a time of it we have in Belfast getting it going.
We don't need a lot (we have ZERO intentions of hiring fancy lawyers to be tying up anybody's time and resources in court, that's for sure!) and we will be smart about how we spend it, but also, lawn signs ain't cheap! We distributed our first 100 in a mere five days and have a long waiting list for more. Please give as you are comfortable. If you have any good ideas, please contact The Fish Are Okay on the fb page or at [email redacted] or better yet, join in and help spread the word: The Fish Really Are Okay!
Whatever we do end up raising will be used on promotional and educational materials. We expect that our purpose will be done when Nordic breaks ground so any unspent funds will be saved for a special element of any public celebration of such a day or, if no such event occurs for any reason, all remaining funds will be donated to the Belfast Soup Kitchen.
And Thank You!!!!!
Local Citizens for Smart Growth (LCSG) and Upstream Watch (UW) claim the opposite: that the company is harmful in intent and application and that city and agency officials and even independent experts are all somehow collectively either duped or unduly influenced or just plain wrong and these groups have pledged, as at least one prominent member put it "to stop Nordic from building at all costs". They have also claimed that they speak for "the silent majority" of the community.
The Fish Are Okay endeavor to show that there is no "silent majority", that there may even be a majority of Belfast citizens who have no objections to Nordic. In order to make this point, we need to talk to people, we need to provide material to support our claims, we need to provide material so that advocates can collectively show their support. So we are asking for some financial backing to print posters and flyers, to have lawn signs and bumper stickers and window decals made and perhaps other things will prove useful in making our case.
Why are we doing this? The labors of LCSG and UW have, indeed, had success in delaying Nordic's timeline - they are now a year behind and that is largely influenced by legal and social actions taken by these two groups and individuals affiliated with them. Actions, we'd like to point out, ultimately came out not in favor of the opposition's claim, but nonetheless threw sticks in the wheel and delayed the project at what can only be astronomical cost to the company. We know the cost to the city to be significant.
Furthermore, these groups have made claims that Nordic will have negative socioeconomic impact on the area and that "no one wants them here". These are points that would hold some consideration in the DEP application and others, especially if that is the only private-sector voice they heard from. This is our most important reason for formal organization: to point out that while there are community members making negative claims, there are also community members who believe this to be a good thing.
Not only these agencies dealing with this particular project, but the entire state is watching Belfast to see how this develops to determine whether land-based aquaculture is or is not a good industry for Maine. Billions of dollars of investment could head to Maine. Or not, depending on how hard a time of it we have in Belfast getting it going.
We don't need a lot (we have ZERO intentions of hiring fancy lawyers to be tying up anybody's time and resources in court, that's for sure!) and we will be smart about how we spend it, but also, lawn signs ain't cheap! We distributed our first 100 in a mere five days and have a long waiting list for more. Please give as you are comfortable. If you have any good ideas, please contact The Fish Are Okay on the fb page or at [email redacted] or better yet, join in and help spread the word: The Fish Really Are Okay!
Whatever we do end up raising will be used on promotional and educational materials. We expect that our purpose will be done when Nordic breaks ground so any unspent funds will be saved for a special element of any public celebration of such a day or, if no such event occurs for any reason, all remaining funds will be donated to the Belfast Soup Kitchen.
And Thank You!!!!!
Fundraising team: The Fish Are Okay (2)
Anne Saggese
Organizer
Belfast, ME
Diane Hunt Braybrook
Team member