Sebastian Belle began his career as a commercial fisherman, working his way through university as a mate on offshore lobster boats.  Currently Mr. Belle is the Executive Director of the Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA), a private non-profit association representing Maine shellfish and finfish growers. Prior to joining the Maine Aquaculture Association, Mr. Belle was the state aquaculture coordinator, working for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. In addition to his role as MAA Executive Director,
Mr. Belle is president of Econ-Aqua, and a founding partner of TAAG. Econ-Aqua is consulting firm specializing in the farm management, financial due diligence and risk analysis and control. TAAG is an international consulting and investment firm specializing in aquaculture projects. Prior to founding TAAG, Mr. Belle was project manager of the Bluefin Tuna Project at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Before joining the aquarium, Mr. Belle was operations manager for Connors Aquaculture Inc. in Eastport, Maine, one of the largest Atlantic salmon farms in the United States.  Mr. Belle holds degrees in fisheries biology and agricultural economics. Mr. Belle served as a technical consultant on over 20 major commercial aquaculture ventures for investment groups from Europe and North and South America. Before returning to North America in 1989, Mr. Belle spent four years managing a commercial scale aquaculture research and development foundation in Norway.