Fishermen worried about potential salmon farm expansion, says Brier Island resident | CBC News
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Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. wants to expand the boundaries of its salmon farm off the coast of Brier Island, N.S., but there is fear an expansion could force out longtime lobster fishermen in the area.
The company, a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture Inc., has said the expansion is needed to comply with a provincial regulation enacted in 2015 that requires equipment above and below the surface of the water to stay within the boundaries of a permit.
Amy Tudor lives on Brier Island with her husband, who is a lobster fisherman. She said the majority of the crates used by fishermen to store lobster in the water — known as lobster cars — fall within Kelly Cove’s proposed boundary.
“This is not free space to be given away — it’s in use,” Tudor, a teacher and the lead naturalist with Mariner Cruises, told CBC Radio’s Information Morning in a recent interview.
Kelly Cove has been operating the salmon farm since 2003 and submitted an application to expand its boundaries in 2016, the year after the provincial regulation came into effect. Its underwater lines and moorings currently expand beyond the permit area.
Tudor said there’s concern about what will happen if the application is approved, including whether lobster fishermen could be told to remove their gear.
“The corporation wants to take this very small area and make it theirs, ” said Tudor.
“We shared the wharf, we shared the dock, we shared the harbour, and now you want a piece of paper that says you will have control of the area where our infrastructure is? It doesn’t feel right, it feels almost like a betrayal.”
Joel Richardson, vice-president of public relations at Cooke Aquaculture, said the company has no plans to expand its production or the size of its cages on the surface — it just wants its boundaries to reflect the setup of its underwater equipment.
“You can’t operate your farm with your anchor lines and your moorings going directly down. They have to run out on a bit of a lateral angle,” Richardson told Information Morning.
Richardson said lobster fishermen have no reason to be concerned, and the company isn’t asking them to move.
“We’ll continue to operate in the manner that we’ve operated, which is respecting lobster fishermen, respecting where their cars are located,” he said.
“And we hope that they would continue to respect our operations as well…. That’s what makes a strong working waterfront in Nova Scotia.”
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