With assessment underway, Nova Scotia has quietly imposed a moratorium on fish farming

Nova Scotia has quietly imposed a moratorium on applications for new marine fish farms until it assesses, maps and rates the coast for suitable locations.

Since the Progressive Conservative government came to power in 2021, Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Steve Craig has not issued options to lease open-net pen sites — effectively closing the door to entrants.

He said there are companies that are interested and "I've told them all that, no, I'm not allowing any of that … at this point until we get through the coastal classification system."

The ban does not apply to companies seeking options to lease sites for shellfish and seaweed harvesting.

Coastal classification was a key recommendation in the 2014 Doelle-Lahey review of aquaculture in the province. It said coastal areas should be rated green, yellow or red based on their relative suitability for finfish aquaculture.

The report acknowledged widespread suspicion of fish farming, but concluded the risks of marine-based finfish aquaculture can be mitigated, and it has the potential to make "an important contribution to sustainable prosperity in Nova Scotia."

Coastal mapping pledge

The Progressive Conservatives pledged to implement coastal mapping for aquaculture during the 2021 election campaign.

The assessment is being carried out by the Centre for Marine Applied Research, an independent division of a provincial development agency.

The coastal classification project. with a budget of $3.65 million, is anticipated to take three years. This is the first year of the project.

The goal is to provide a detailed map of areas that are scientifically suitable for open-net pens and for other ways the ocean is being. Craig calls it a "support tool" to help adjudicate applications.

"We have 13,000 kilometres of coastline in Nova Scotia," he said. "I'd be surprised if there are a thousand suitable for marine finfish environments, 500, 100. I don't know what that number is, but I think we can get a better sense of that."

Applications for fish farms already in the queue are proceeding through the existing adjudication process.

Review board slow

"They have the right to go right through the system to the aquaculture review board for a decision — haven't touched that," Craig said.

"Where I do have full discretion is allowing people to enter into that and providing an option to lease, and I have not allowed any of those options to be had."

The province set up the arm's-length review board in 2015 and it has so far rendered just two decisions. A third application will be heard later this year.

A spokesperson for Cooke Aquaculture, the lone open-net pen salmon farm operator in Nova Scotia, says the process is incredibly slow.

Cooke has a number of years-old applications to expand existing fish farms and is awaiting hearings before the aquaculture review board.

"It's concerning that there really essentially has been very little growth of the industry in Nova Scotia from a seafood-development perspective in the aquaculture industry for both shellfish and finfish," said Cooke spokesperson Joel Richardson.

He said Cooke plans to spend $122 million upgrading its Nova Scotia operations over the next five years.

The company has open-net pen salmon farms from just outside Halifax, at Saddle Island along the South Shore, and around the Bay of Fundy into the Digby area.

Cooke participated in a mandatory review of aquaculture regulations. The review was released Friday. It said the rules have to be streamlined to eliminate duplication.

It also called for greater transparency and public participation.