DAMARISCOTTA, Maine — Oyster farmers in the Mid-Coast say clean water is crucial to their business.
When they began to see trash building up on the shores of the Damariscotta River, they took matters into their own hands.
For several years, competing farmers from several different Damariscotta oyster companies have held "clean up days" twice a year in order to clean up trash from the river banks.
Pemaquid Oyster Company founder Jeff "Smokey" McKeen says, "We've found everything on the bottom of the river over the years."
That includes typical trash items such as tires, clothing, plastic bottles, rope and old lobster traps. It also includes less expected items.
"We've found a grave stone," says McKeen. "We've found little plastic toys, and even someone's drivers license."
Cleaning up the water is one of the ways oyster farmers in the Mid-Coast protect their product.
McKeen's partner and co-founder Chris Davis says "Part of our brand is that our oysters come from the clean waters of Maine. Without clean waters, we don't have a marketable product."
However, all the oyster farmers say their primary motivation is doing right by the environment.
Mooksea Farm manager Jeff Auger says, "I think it's something that speaks to the very nature of what being an oyster farmer is. Everybody out here cares really passionately about the environment."