A marine biologicst says a possible fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay will be a benchmark for the province.
Cooke Aquaculture’s bid to expand would mark the first salmon lease since the 2015 Doelle-Lahey report on aquaculture.
Inka Milewski, a research associate with Dalhousie University, is watching to see how the new regulations will be followed.
“A potential new lease or leases would be a test of whether the province has adopted any or some or all of the recommendations for site assessments made in the Doelle-Lahey report.”
Milewski has studied the potential impacts of the fish farm in Port Mouton Bay on lobster stocks and most recently the potential effects of the farm on eel grass.
She believes an odour plume from the Port Mouton farm led to diminished lobster stocks because they couldn’t smell food near the farm.
Milewski doesn’t believe the current site is ideal because of several factors including water depth and current.
“What we would need to know about Liverpool Bay is more about the bio-physical characteristics of the bay.”
Meanwhile, Dalhousie oceanography professor, Jon Grant, says fish farm placement is all about balance.
Grant is also Cooke Aquaculture and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Chair in Sustainable Aquaculture.
He was on hand at a recent public open house held by Cooke Aquaculture at Queens Place Emera Centre.
Grant believes the bay can support an expansion or second farm because of the size of the area.
“It would be very difficult for that farm on its own to impact an extremely large area just because of dilution.”
He says the current site is in compliance with provincial regulations.
“I’ve looked at some of the test results that the province requires them to do and as far as I know, those numbers are acceptable in terms of bottom quality that we use as measures.”
Grant says farms are phased in gradually and the lease process takes a long time.
He says the siting process is comprehensive and they will monitor the impacts throughout that process.
Story and photo by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca
