Former pulp mill town ground zero in Nova Scotia fish farms debate

On Main Street in Liverpool, N.S., opponents of salmon farming wave placards at passing traffic.

The signs read, "Save Liverpool Bay! Say No! Open-Pen Fish Farms."

Some vehicles honk in support, but many others do not during a recent afternoon in the South Shore community.

The former pulp mill town is now ground zero in a renewed debate about coastal salmon farms.

"Too many fish die, there's disease. It's not a clean business and it's just not right for Nova Scotia," said Brian Muldoon.

He lives opposite an existing salmon farm in Liverpool Bay and is leading the campaign against expansion plans by Kelly Cove Salmon, a subsidiary of aquaculture giant Cooke Seafood.

Muldoon said there are 14 pens at Coffin Island, which hold 400,000 fish, and that Cooke wants to increase it to 60 pens and 1.8 million fish.

"Our bay is too shallow for this. It just can't hold it. It is too shallow to flush," said Muldoon.

Critics 'ill-informed'

Cooke Seafood CEO Glenn Cooke brushes aside the critics as "ill-informed."

"We've done a lot of work on precise selection of where those sites will go, and I believe they have the least impact and we're excited about it because they'll allow us to grow more fish and hire more people," he said.

The company has applied to increase its existing site and add two new ones in Liverpool Bay.

It would be the first fish farm expansion in seven years and the first application submitted since the province's Liberal government lifted a moratorium on new fish farms in 2016.

Kelly Cove Salmon produces 8,500 tonnes a year at 13 sites across Nova Scotia. It wants to expand production to 30,000 tonnes to justify building a processing facility that was put on hold after the 2013 Nova Scotia moratorium.

Cermaq, a Norwegian subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is slightly behind Cooke in the approval process.

It has been awarded four options to exclusively evaluate the potential for salmon farms in St. Marys Bay in Digby County and in Chedabucto Bay, Isle Madame and Canso.

Cermaq has up to a year to decide if it wants to apply to proceed.

The company operates 27 fish farms in British Columbia.

Earlier this month, Cermaq said it needed 20,000 tonnes a year to justify spending between $300 million and $500 million on a processing facility and 10 to 20 fish farms in Nova Scotia.

It said potential sites must be environmentally suitable, but it also wants public support to move forward.

More transparency

Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell said the province is in discussions with other firms who are attracted by a new regulatory regime that he said offers the public more transparency and industry more certainty.

The minister said there is plenty of room along the coast for everything Cooke and Cermaq have in mind.

"Oh, yes, we could handle a tremendous amount more than that," Colwell said.

He used the example of the Bedford Basin. While he was quick to point out that a fish farm would never be allowed there, it would only take a small percentage of the basin for Cermaq and Cooke's needs to be met.

Environmentalist Susanna Fuller disagrees with that thought process.

"Boat Harbour, [the] Sydney tar ponds, the Northern Pulp pipe could all fit inside Bedford Basin," she said. "I don't think it's the size of the area that's important. What's important is the impact that we still aren't really managing."

Fuller offered another view of what is unfolding.

"A lot of these companies are coming here and wanting to expand because they can't expand in other places," she said. "In B.C., there's been sea lice outbreaks and in Norway, it's a million dollars for a lease. Here, it's, I think, somewhere around $12, $13 a hectare."

Aquaculture regulations

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is also moving forward in creating a single, comprehensive set of aquaculture regulations, called the General Aquaculture Regulations, to manage aquaculture development in Canada.

"Ottawa and DFO are looking at much more stringent regulations over time. I feel like [the companies are] trying to get in under the wire," she said.

Right now, Cooke Seafood is at the head of the regulatory line.

Timelines

Its application for the Liverpool Bay expansion will go to a public hearing before a provincial review board later this year.

The public can speak for a maximum of six minutes per person.

The board is obliged to render a decision — to approve, approve with conditions or reject — within 30 days.

There are a further 30 days to appeal.