{"id":622,"date":"2011-07-12T17:00:16","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T20:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/?p=622"},"modified":"2011-08-07T16:53:05","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T19:53:05","slug":"local-communities-oppose-aquaculture-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"Local communities oppose aquaculture sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Location of aquaculture sites<\/p><\/div>\n

HALIFAX \u2013 Local community members from St. Mary\u2019s Bay and the Atlantic Salmon Federation today filed an appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to oppose the creation of one of the province\u2019s largest fish farms in the community\u2019s traditional fishing grounds.<\/p>\n

Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Sterling Belliveau’s approval in early June of two massive salmon feedlots received overwhelming opposition from local communities. The communities believe the feedlots, which will stock almost two million fish, will devastate their tourism and traditional fishing industries. The farms also threaten several endangered species, including the North Atlantic right whale, roseate tern, harlequin duck and wild Atlantic salmon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appeal addresses whether the Minister had the constitutional jurisdiction to issue the licenses and whether it was reasonable for him to neglect communities concerns, gaps in the scientific evidence and socio-economic impacts,” said Ecojustice lawyer Hugh Wilkins.<\/p>\n

Ecojustice is representing the St. Mary\u2019s Bay Coastal Alliance, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Freeport Community Development Association and the Villages of Freeport, Tiverton and Westport. The groups are calling on the government to revoke the licenses and to put the interests of the local communities before the province\u2019s aggressive aquaculture development plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies have been fishing lobster here for generations,\u201d says David Pugh of the Village of Westport. \u201cIt is well-paying, sustainable work that supports our communities. The arrival of these salmon feedlots will put an end to that, displacing the lobster fishery with lower-paying, unskilled jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Mary’s Bay is one of the richest lobster fishing grounds in the world and is being considered by Parks Canada as part of a significant new national marine conservation area.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvidence from similar feedlots in New Brunswick shows that they will significantly deteriorate the habitat for key commercially harvested fish and significantly displace and diminish the quality of the existing lobster fishery in the area,” said Karen Crocker of the St. Mary\u2019s Bay Coastal Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minister completely ignored the many concerns and comments of the individuals, communities and groups most affected by this project\u201d, said Andy Moir of the Freeport Community Development Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cumulative impacts of new and existing fish farms in the Bay of Fundy are adding up\u201d, said Bill Taylor, president of the Atlantic Salmon Federation. \u201cWithout sufficient consideration of the impacts of all these operations on endangered species, like wild Atlantic salmon, the Minister\u2019s decision was clearly unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact:<\/p>\n

Pierre Hamilton, communications associate | Ecojustice
\n416-368-7533 ext. 26<\/p>\n

Sheldon Dixon, LFA 34 Lobster Fishermen | St. Mary’s Bay Coastal Alliance
\n902-839-2830<\/p>\n

Rikki Clements | St. Mary\u2019s Bay Coastal Alliance
\n902-839-2255<\/p>\n

Karen Crocker | St. Mary\u2019s Bay Coastal Alliance
\n902-839-2923<\/p>\n

Andy Moir | Freeport Community Development Association
\n902-839-2337<\/p>\n

Sue Scott, vice-president communications | Atlantic Salmon Federation
\n506-529-1027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HALIFAX \u2013 Local community members from St. Mary\u2019s Bay and the Atlantic Salmon Federation today filed an appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to oppose the creation of one of the province\u2019s largest fish farms in the community\u2019s traditional … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaculture","category-for-the-record"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}