April 9, 2020
The Twin Bays Coalition would like to thank Cermaq Canada for listening to, and hearing the overwhelming opposition expressed by Nova Scotians to open net pens in Nova Scotian waters.
Clearly, as called for by the Doelle-Lahey Commission, which studied in detail open net pen aquaculture back in 2013-14, there was no social license to operate open pen fish farms here. The overwhelming trend around the world is against this archaic technology. It pollutes our oceans and poses risks to local species and habitats. While other jurisdictions including BC are getting rid of open net pens, our province continues to aggressively pursue them. Why?
“Government should say no to open pen fish farms and redirect their investment to land based operations,” said Syd Dumaresq, one of the moving forces behind the Twin Bays Coalition. “We hope politicians still promoting this outdated technology hear what Cermaq heard. We don’t want it!”
Geoff Le Boutillier, Dumaresq’s colleague in the movement, which has now gone provincewide, sees a bright future for finfish aquaculture in Nova Scotia on land instead of in our bays and estuaries. “We need to protect our tourism and lobster industries by capitalizing on Nova Scotian-owned zero emission land-based closed containment technology. Companies like Sustainable Blue up in Centre Burlington are poised for growth. We have the brand, the know-how, the location and marketing expertise to make it happen. Land-based aquaculture is the future.”
Part of the provincewide Healthy Bays Network, the Twin Bays Coalition represents citizens from Peggy’s Cove to the Medway River opposed to the proliferation of open net pen fish farms. Visit us at twinbays.ca.
