Save the Eastern Shore campaign

[sdcanoe]

  As many of you know, the Nova Scotia Government has plans to allow the expansion of open pen salmon farms on the Eastern Shore. In an effort to stop this expansion we have organized a letter writing campaign. I hope every member of this forum will write a letter and will help spread the word. We have setup a blog with information for anyone who wants to get involved. Thank you.

http://savetheeasternshore.blogspot.com

[DeerHairBugger (Gary Robar)]

 Guys this should be done by evryone .....this is one of our last chances .....I will be writing a letter myself .

[Howie]

NB members ought to get in on this as well as aquaculture is a problem we all share!

Time to check out the blog....

[John]

I agree ...if your a member here no reason you can't take a few minutes and get the word out...my letter will be done up soon

[KoRP]

Everyone who lives here in the maritmes should be writing a letter, thanks canoe....

[Grouse]

No problem - letter will be sent for sure.

J.

[Howie]

sdcanoe - the leader of the opposition should be included in the distribution of these letters. 

[mickey finn]

I will craft some letters as well.  Why is DFO not included in the suggested mailout list?  They must have some role in here as well....funding support and/or regulatory.

[sdcanoe]

   Thank you all for the support. This really is our only chance, once a salmon farm is in place there would be very little chance of having it removed.
 
Howie,
   We are waiting to hear their official position on the expansion of open pen salmon farms in Nova Scotia.

Mickey Finn,
   It is Fisheries and Aquaculture that makes most of the decisions regarding new aquaculture sites however, the Save the Eastern Shore blog is only meant to be a guideline and I would absolutely encourage everyone to send letters to anyone they feel could help stop the expansion.

Steve

[Jamie]

Steve,

Where is the farm in Ship Harbour ? I grew up on the eastern shore, my parents live in Pleasant Harbour and my step-fathers family owns Krauch's Smokehouse but i haven't heard anything about there being an actual operating farm in the water from them. I know where the mussel farm is, is it somewhere close to that ?

I can't see Spry Bay being a very good place as there currently isn't any wharf that is fit to tie anything larger than a dorey to and access to the water there is extremely limited unless they plan on using the facilities at Abriel's fish plant.

Beaver Harbour at least had a government wharf although i don't know what kind of shape it's in now. It also has very limited access to the water from any road.

Unless these people are using Abriel Fisheries as a processing area and storage area for feed, nets, etc then i can't see them getting too large without having to do a major investment in infrastructure.

[sdcanoe]

Jamie,
   To see the locations go to the Fisheries and Aquaculture web site and enter the site mapping tool. At the top change the species to Salmonids in the drop down menu. Zoom in on the map to see the exact locations. Green squares are existing sites and blue triangles are proposed sites.

http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/aquaculture/aquamap.shtml

   You are right about the lack of infrastructure, but believe me Snow Island Salmon will put in what ever they need to get these farms going. And once they start investing money they will expect to have free reign over the Eastern Shore, and I am sure the Nova Scotia Government will be happy to give it to them. The Dexter Government seems intent on creating jobs at ANY cost. The few jobs that are created by aquaculture do not even come close to making up for what is lost due to environmental damage, pollution, effects on wild salmon and lobster etc. etc.

[Jamie]

Those are some interesting sites, neither of the two operating sites are near the mainland. One is on the shores of Cable Island and the other is on the shore of Wolfe Island. Cable Island is about 2km offshore from DeBaies Cove and Wolfe Island is pushing 5km offshore. Both farms appear to be on the lee side of the islands but the waters in that area can be pretty damn rough from my expeience. My father used to be the principle at the old school in Owls Head, those farms are in a very isolated area far away from the publics eye.

Even the proposed sites are all offshore with a couple of them on the shores of some of the most popular islands in the area.

Considering they are using areas that were dominated by the commercial fishery i don't see much local uproar over this. Unfortunately this is going to have a lot of local support in my opinion. It is going to be an uphill battle on this one.

[sdcanoe]

Unfortunately this is going to have a lot of local support in my opinion.

    Why would locals support an industry that will pollute its waters?? If you look at what is happening in the Bay of Fundy and the South Shore there is no local support, that is because there is nothing positive to support. No one wants pollution and disease on their coastline.
   Also, there are still a lot of lobster fishermen on the Eastern Shore and they are not happy about this.

[Jamie]

I am sure there will be some uproar from the remaining lobster fisherman but having grown up down there and knowing a lot of the people there is a general attitude amongst the "older" generation of just grin and bear it or anything to create a few jobs.

I have some relatives that lobster fish out of Popes Harbour, some that fish out of Ecum Secum and know some of the guys that fish in the Sheet Harbour / Mushaboom area.

Back when the mussel farm went into the head of Ship Harbour i don't remember there being much opposition at all and at the time it was the largest single mussel farm in North America.

Unlike the South Shore which has larger towns with thousands/tens of thousands like Shelburne, Mahone Bay, Bridgewater, Liverpool etc, etc the Eastern Shore has small villages with populations of hundreds and a fast aging population that wants jobs at almost any cost to try to bring back some of the younger generations.

I really hope i am wrong and that their is a very loud opposition to this but having spent 25 years living down there i won't get my hopes up too high.

[sdcanoe]

Jamie,
   I understand where you are coming from. I think one of the big misconceptions is that salmon farms will create jobs however, the truth is it only takes a few people to run even the largest of farms. Also this company is based in Scotland and that is where the money will go.
   This thing is just getting started, it is too early to start thinking negative. If everyone stays positive and does their part, there is a fighting chance. It ain't over till its over.