Very successful community meeting on aquaculture featuring marine biologist Inka Milewski and sustainable seafood expert, Rob Johnson. More than 100 interested Shelburne citizens attended

Slide Presentation: Inka Milewski, Marine Biologist: Conservation Council of New Brunswick "Environmental Impacts of Salmon Farms: Lessons from New Brunswick
Slide Presentation: Rob Johnson, Maritimes Coordinator for SeaChoice (sustainable seafood program), also representing Ecology Action Centre. Johnson spoke on the historic effects of aquaculture on economics and labour foce in New Brunswick
CBC Radio news story - Podcast
Comments about CBC story
CBC radio news story July 4, 2011

Saving our coastal fishery...

The continued increase in Atlantic Canada of factory fish farms in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia is becoming a threat to our precious coastal fisheries and habitats. Tons of effluent and unused feed - plus chemicals and pesticides - are being released into once-pristine habitat for lobsters, sea urchins and other species and are accumulating on marine bottoms throughout the region.

In the past ten years, hundreds of open net fish cages for the captive raising of Atlantic Salmon have proliferated in the coastal bays and harbours of the Atlantic Provinces, in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Many of these factory fish farms are owned by Cooke Aquaculture, a multi-national company with holdings in Canada, the USA and Chile.

Community concerns about industrial fish farming in coastal regions throughout the world is nothing new, as the growth of the industry in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Norway, Scotland and Chile have resulted in most areas in virulent outbreaks of sea lice and in some areas of the the ISA virus (salmon leukemia) and are thought to the a major factor in the decimation of the wild salmon stocks in BC.

The newest locations In Jordan Bay and West Green Harbour are near Shelburne Harbour, Nova Scotia, where Cooke Aquaculture has just received government approval to more than double the size of their footprint for salmon cages, after abandoning some sites which were made unusable due to the high levels of sulfides. When fully stocked with fish, the old and new cage sites will hold millions of farmed salmon will result in many tons of fecal matter being released into Shelburne Harbour, Jordan Bay and West Green Harbour each year.

Additionally, permits are being sought to expand the open net cages sites in St. Mary's Bay near Digby lobster fishers and concerned citizens there are very concerned about the effect on the environment. Now that Jordan Bay and West Green Harbour have also been targeted by Cooke for 100-acre fish farms, we are gravely concerned that the prime fishing grounds in that area for lobster, sea urchins and other species - and the habitat which supports them - will be affected adversely.

Based on their 15-year experience with an industrial fish farm in Port Mouton Bay, lobster fishermen and other citizens there launched a wide-spread and successful campaign to oppose another large fish farm. The community was convinced a second fish farm would further threaten the ecological health of the Bay and presented a strong case to government regulators for the denial of permits to expand factory farming in that region.

Sustainable aquaculture could be a integral part of our rural economies, but must be developed in collaboration and cooperation of the communities whose marine resources might be put at risk. Well-meaning local officials trying to encourage development must hold factory farm promoters accountable for true sustainable practices. Because the commercial aquaculture industry and provincial and federal governments are not typically transparent and forthcoming about providing information necessary for citizens to make informed decisions about the effects of large, industrial fish farms in and near our communities, this website is designed to provide as much information as possible so that citizens in our communities can educate themselves about what those effects might be.

If you have any suggestions about additional resources or about how to make this site more useful, please email us HERE

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