NDP fisheries critic Jim Dinn is calling on the provincial government to suspend future open-net fish farm aquaculture licences following an incident involving Northern Harvest sea farms on the province’s south coast.
Dinn wants to see the province move to closed-pen, land-based aquaculture.
The farm is dealing with a massive die-off they say was caused by higher-than-normal water temperatures earlier this summer.
As part of clean up, boats are pumping salmon mortalities from sea pens for processing. Pink-coloured water is being flushed back out, which has led to concerns from local fishermen about the potential impact on the marine environment.
A scum of fat and other material has been seen floating on the surface, and coating area rocks and beaches.
FFAW President Keith Sullivan was in the Harbour Breton area this week and told VOCM Morning Show co-host Fred Hutton that the cleanup needs to be monitored.
He says cleaning out the pens is better than allowing fish to remain rotting in the cages, but it must be done in the most environmentally-responsible manner possible. That means DFO oversight is necessary to ensure there is no impact on the marine environment.
Jason Card of Northern Harvest says lobster harvesters need not worry. He cites a similar event in 2014.
He says fat was left on the surface following a “super chill event” that season, and harvesters reported some of the best lobster seasons in the years after.
