Waiting game continues as aquaculture review board silent on fish farm hearings

A map showing where Kelly Cove Salmon proposes two new fish farm sites (in yellow) and where it plans to expand its existing operation (in green). (Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board)

It’s anyone’s guess as to when or if the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board will hold hearings into a proposal to expand fish farming in Liverpool Bay.

The board posted a notice on its website on March 6, saying that hearing dates scheduled for April 2 to 5 were cancelled. They gave no reason, and no new dates are on the horizon.

Kelly Cove Salmon, owned by Cooke Aquaculture, applied in 2019 to expand its salmon farming operation off Coffin Island near Liverpool, and to add two new farms off Brooklyn and Mersey Point. If successful, that would increase Cooke’s operation to 60 pens from 14, and include trout as well as salmon. It could mean up to 1.8 million farmed salmon in the bay, compared to about 400,000 now.

Groups involved in the hearing are as much in the dark as everybody else.

Jamie Simpson with Juniper Law represents one of the five intervenors, 22 Lobster Fishermen of Liverpool Bay.

He said Monday that he received an email from the board telling him the April dates were cancelled. They also made no attempt to set new dates, he said. Since then, he hasn’t heard a thing.

“I would have thought that we would have heard some sort of a followup plan for the path forward here, but it’s just been silent so far.

“I mean I don’t know what to think. I’ve never seen it before basically. … It’s been radio silence since we got that letter.”

The hearings have been on hold since chairwoman Jean McKenna left the board on Feb. 20. Her departure surprised groups involved in the hearing, although the Nova Scotia government said her term had simply expired. 

The board cancelled March hearing dates and said that the April hearings would still go ahead.

The Tory government appointed board member and former Tory candidate Tim Cranston to take McKenna’s place as chairman. Cranston has been a member of the ARB since 2023. He ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in the last provincial election.

Premier Tim Houston came out against the proposed expansion in early February, but said that he supports aquaculture and respects the independence of the review board.

More than 150 residents, businesses and community groups filed written submissions with the board. Five groups were granted intervenor status at the hearings: Protect Liverpool Bay, the Region of Queens, the Brooklyn Marina, 22 Lobster Fishermen of Liverpool Bay, and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn, which is representing the Acadia First Nation.

Representatives with the review board have not commented on the cancellations or when there might be new hearings scheduled. They have said that any new information will be posted on their website.

Jamie Simpson said Monday that all he and his clients can do is wait.

“I don’t know what the forces are that are moving this, but all we can do is sit back, it’s highly unusual,” he said. 

“It seems like anything’s possible at this point. I assume that Kelly Cove Salmon wants to go ahead with their application. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary in that regard. So assuming that Kelly Cove doesn’t pull out, we’ll be going ahead at some point. And that’s about all I can say.”

A spokesman for Cooke Aquaculture could not be reached on Monday.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Review board cancels April hearings into fish farm expansion

Debris from the fish farm near Coffin Island on Beach Meadows Beach in 2021. (Rick Conrad photo)

April hearings into a proposed fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay have been cancelled.

The Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board posted on its website last Wednesday that “all sessions of the hearing have been adjourned until further notice. Timeframes for submissions to the Board remain unchanged and are closed.”

It’s the latest surprising turn of events for the review board. In early February, Premier Tim Houston announced at a business luncheon in Liverpool that he personally opposes the expansion in Liverpool Bay. He added that he respects the independence of the review board.

Kelly Cove Salmon, which is owned by Cooke Aquaculture, applied in 2019 to expand its existing operation off Coffin Island. It also wants to add two new site off Brooklyn and Mersey Point.

On Feb. 20, groups involved in the hearing got a “high priority” email telling them the hearings scheduled for March 4 to 8 were cancelled. They were also told that board chairwoman Jean McKenna was no longer with the board.

Lawyers were told that other dates that had been scheduled for early April were still a go.

A new chairman was appointed. Tim Cranston was appointed to the board in February 2023. He also ran for the Tories in the last provincial election in Halifax.

Houston told reporters that McKenna’s term had expired and that there was nothing inappropriate about Cranston’s appointment.

And then last week, the board posted on its site that the April dates were now cancelled.

The board has been mum about all the recent changes and hearing cancellations, saying only that when new information is available, it will be posted on its website.

There is no indication when or if they will be rescheduled.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Fish farm letter writing workshop planned for Liverpool library as deadline looms

Debris from the fish farm near Coffin Island on Beach Meadows Beach in 2021. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

If you’re concerned about a proposed fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay, there’s a letter writing session planned for the Thomas H. Raddall Library on Saturday from 1 to 4.

Kelly Cove Salmon, which is owned by Cooke Aquaculture, has applied to add to its operations near Coffin Island and to add two new sites off Brooklyn and Mersey Point.

If successful, Kelly Cove’s operation would grow to 60 pens from its current 14. It would mean about 1.8 million salmon would be farmed in the bay, compared to the current estimated 400,000.

The Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board has public hearings scheduled for Liverpool beginning March 4. 

Members of the public can have their say on the application until Feb. 12 by sending their comments to the review board.

Residents contacted QCCR this week concerned that their letters were being rejected by the board. In an email to QCCR, the review board said individual comments from those who are listed as members of one of the five intervenors in the application will be rejected.

A notice posted at Queens Place Emera Centre.

For example, some supporters of Protect Liverpool Bay had their submissions rejected because the grassroots group listed their names as members when it applied for, and was granted, intervenor status. The others are the Region of Queens, the Brooklyn Marina, a group of 23 lobster fishermen, and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn, which is representing the Acadia First Nation.

The review board told QCCR that “in the interests of efficiency, if a single body can present those interests, those concerns can be dealt with by a single entity.”

The board encourages public participation and does want to hear from everyone,” Stacy Bruce, the board’s clerk said in the email.

“However, as (Protect Liverpool Bay) is a party to the hearing representing all its members, if a member’s name is on the list PLB provided, they may not submit written statements as they are already being represented by PLB as an intervenor and not as a member of the general public. Only members of the general public that are not party to the hearing are permitted to submit written or oral submissions.”

Opponents of the expansion got a big morale boost this week when Premier Tim Houston told a business luncheon in Liverpool that he personally opposes more fish farms in Liverpool Bay.

“I think some areas are great for aquaculture and I think that some others are maybe not the best place for it,” he told about 80 Liverpool businesspeople and others at a luncheon on Wednesday, sponsored by the South Queens Chamber of Commerce.

“On this specific question on Liverpool Bay, … I personally don’t think Liverpool Bay is a suitable place for it.

“That’s my personal opinion. I respect the process, the independent review board will do their process and will have hearings. They’ll do their thing. But my personal opinion is I don’t think Liverpool Bay is a suitable place for it.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Residents step up letter writing to oppose fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay

Tim Nickerson, Lyn Oakley and Rosalee Smith at the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows on Tuesday. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

For Lyn Oakley, having more fish farms near her home boils down to one thing.

“My biggest concern is poop,” the Eagle Head resident says, referring to the fish waste produced at the facilities. “There is no way that the ocean with its tides is flushing that area. It’s not capable of doing that.”

Oakley was at the Seaside Centre in Beach Meadows on Tuesday with other residents working on their letters to the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board to oppose a proposed fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay.

The review board will hold a public hearing on an application by Kelly Cove Salmon to expand its current fish farming operation off Coffin Island, near Liverpool, from 14 pens to 20. It also wants to create new sites off Brooklyn and Mersey Point. The new locations would add another 40 pens to their operation.

The hearing begins March 4 at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool. 

If successful, Kelly Cove would farm up to an estimated 1.8 million salmon at the three sites. It currently raises about 400,000 at its location near Coffin Island.

The grassroots group Protect Liverpool Bay is one of five groups granted intervenor status at the hearing. The others are the Region of Queens, the Brooklyn Marina, a group of 23 lobster fishermen and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn, which is representing the Acadia First Nation.

As part of the review process, anyone can submit comments to the board by Feb. 12. But they must address at least one of eight factors the review board considers under the province’s aquaculture regulations.

That’s why some residents gathered on Tuesday to make sure their letters were in a format that would be accepted by the review board.

Oakley said the session was helpful to learn from other community members.

“These kinds of information sessions make sure that my objections are going to be accepted into the record and my voice will be heard.”

Rosalee Smith, who also lives in Eagle Head, said it’s important for the community to be heard.

“I think numbers speak. The people on the ground, the people who are gonna live next to this, the people who will have to look at this, the people who will be suffering because of this I think need to speak up and say, ‘No, we don’t want it.’”

Protect Liverpool Bay has been fighting the fish farm expansion since 2018. It was on hand to offer any other information to residents about the review hearing process. 

Beach Meadows resident Tim Nickerson said he’s working on his own letter, but also wanted to help others with theirs.

“I just think that the ask for the bay is just excessive. It’s just too much for that space to handle.”

Local residents say they are worried about the fish farm’s effects on the lobster fishery, the area’s beaches and other uses of the bay.

They’re also concerned that more fish in more enclosed spaces will mean more pollution, pesticides and antibiotics released into the ocean. They point to sea lice infestations, fish escapes, equipment debris and fish kills.

There are two more information sessions planned at the Seaside Centre, on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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