Marystown is aiming to become the aquaculture service hub of Newfoundland and Labrador with the sale of the local Shipyard – and one of the first items on their list, a lumpfish hatchery.
Marbase, the company owned by St. John’s businessman Paul Antle, will put up $7.5 million over the next three years to develop the Marystown Shipyard.
Antle says one of the first projects they’ll be applying to the provincial government for is the first commercial lumpfish hatchery in Canada. He says right now there are 13 lumpfish factories in Norway but none here. He says they will build the first.
Lumpfish are a natural solution to pest control for aquaculture, eating the sea lice which plague the industry.
Back to sea lice.
An efficient, eco-friendly solution to pets on fish farms are cleanerfish, particularly wrasse and lumpfish.
DFO scientist Dr Ian Bradbury speaks about research on these species. pic.twitter.com/aernU6Jf8q
— 𝔸𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕨 ℍ𝕒𝕨𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕟 (@hawthornandrewj) September 24, 2019
Jennifer Monk of the Ocean Science Centre points out that there are actually no commercial operations raising cleanerfish for use in aquaculture, as they are doing in research at MUN. pic.twitter.com/whDNK8n6iv
— 𝔸𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕨 ℍ𝕒𝕨𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕟 (@hawthornandrewj) September 24, 2019
Antle calls it a great benefit to the environment and the farmers as it eliminates the use of pesticides and other thermal-mechanical techniques of trying to de-lice fish. It’s a very well-researched and well-accepted technique, says Antle.
He says we have some of the best research minds in the country at MUN who are also going to be involved in the project.
This Isn’t Liberals Helping Liberals, says Premier
Meanwhile, the Premier quashed any talk of the Liberal government helping their Liberal pals.
Premier Dwight Ball says there are no favours at all for Liberal friends, but he sees a lot of good Liberals around the province who are eager to work together.
Antle says they did purchase the shipyard for $1M but will be investing tens of millions.
Sitting there vacant, it’s worth nothing. @VOCMNEWS #nlpoli pic.twitter.com/6ro5h1d9Bl
— Ben Murphy VOCM (@BenMurphyVOCM) September 26, 2019
Ball says he told Paul Antle, following the by-election in Windsor Lake (which he ultimately lost to PC Leader, Ches Crosbie), that he was not in the place to take a seat in the House of Assembly, but can always find ways to improve the future of the province. The premier says this is one way he was able to do that.
He says it’s about all of us, regardless of political stripe, collectively working together to improve the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Bjorn Apeland, founder of Amar Group AS, a Norwegian company, teamed up with Antle to create Marbase.
He says he has a lot of great ideas, and strongly believes in it.
Apeland says it Marystown is a fantastic place to do the first Marbase concept in the world and hopes to attract all the suppliers in the area. He says Marystown is the perfect place, because it’s in the middle of everything.
The Premier says he doesn’t know Apeland’s political stripe, but jokes he must be a Liberal, because he’s interested in the future of the province.
