• The Vanguard Business Cooke Aquaculture expansion plans for Shelburne, Digby on hold Greg Bennett SHELBURNE -Cooke Aquaculture won’t be building a new salmon processing centre in Shelburne or a new hatchery in Digby County in 2015. The New Brunswick-based company recently informed the Town of Shelburne that its Nova Scotia expansion plans are stalled, including the construction of a multi-million dollar fish processing facility that would employ more than 300 people in the Shelburne area. Cooke Aquaculture spokesperson Nell Halse explained the company is waiting on new fish farming regulations from the provincial government before continuing with their expansion plans in Nova Scotia. That expansion, announced in June 2012, came with the promise of a $25-million provincial loan (including a $9-million forgivable portion) from the then-NDP government. Only a portion of the funds available from that loan has been accessed so far. Halse says the delay has been unfortunate, but it hasn’t changed the company’s intent to move forward, only the timeline. “Our plans are still sitting on a shelf… they are ready to go,” she said. Before the company builds new facilities, Halse says, it needs more fish farm sites to justify further construction. Cooke would need enough fish farm sites to grow about 3-million fish at a time for the expansion plan to make economic sense, she said. Plans to build the planned hatchery facility on Digby Neck are close to complete. “We’ve done all the environmental work,” she said. “Those things (the hatchery and a planned expansion of their Truro feed mill) will move quickly.” She said there has been some preliminary siting work done on the planned Shelburne, facility, but there are no firm purchase plans. The company spokeswoman pointed out that, despite the stalled plans, Cooke continues to be an important economic generator in the province, with 140 direct employees and more than 400 jobs supported by its activities. In 2013, the company reported $139-million in sales from its Nova Scotia operations. With the release this week of an independent review panel report on the industry, Halse says company officials hope the province moves quickly to enact new legislation so they can dust off new fish farm applications. The report calls for major changes to regulations on the industry to create a low environmental impact while offering high economic value. Among other things, the report says fish farming should only be allowed in suitable coastal waters and recommends a classification system based on suitability
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 12:37:18 +0000
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