Communities want fish farm jobs
In yet another example of the difference in attitude between most communities in British Columbia and those on the eastern seaboard of Canada, a Mayor of a small village in Newfoundland is concerned about keeping a local fish processing plant going after the operator- Cooke Aquaculture- decided to purchase a processing plant in a neighbouring community. In the city of Campbell River on Canada’s west coast- the centre for the province’s $ 800 million salmon farming industry- the Mayor recently failed to show support for an aquaculture advocate after a presentation to Council. Details of the opposite sentiment from Newfoundland are found in an article by Clayton Hunt of The Coaster;
Cooke Aquaculture Inc. added to its infrastructure in the Coast of Bays recently in announcing that it will purchase the Ocean Choice International (OCI) plant in Hermitage-Sandyville by the end of June 2010. Glenn Cooke, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said that the purchase of the Hermitage facility is a strategic investment that will support the company's marine aquaculture operations on the south coast of Newfoundland. Cooke said that the facility will be used as a service depot for feed distribution and maintenance needs. OCI issued a press release on the impending sale on May 6 and one word in particular in that release caught everyone's attention and caused quite a bit of concern in some circles. A sentence in the release reads: Cooke said that it will be business as usual in Harbour Breton for the immediate future with salmon processing continuing at that site. Mayor Skinner said that the word 'immediate' is a cause for concern for his council. He said, "The release says that Harbour Breton is a player in Cooke's operations right now, but what does the word 'immediate' mean for the future of our community? "Once the present fish are all out the water, will Cooke move their processing operation to Hermitage? Does the word 'immediate' mean that once they own the plant in Hermitage, if they have room to expand, if they get all the permits that are required, if the Hermitage council welcomes them with open arms because of the tax base and the tax dollars, will we see all of our workers driving to Hermitage to work with a major facility in this community? We have nothing against Hermitage workers or the residents of that community, but we don't think it's fair if Cooke moved its processing to that community. Our workers have done a great job for Cooke and continue to do so. Nell Halse, vice-president of communications for Cooke Aquaculture said, "This purchase is not about moving our processing operation to Hermitage; it is about having a service depot for our marine operations in the area. While we continue to explore long-term options for owning our own processing facility, it is business as usual in Harbour Breton. We can't say what our long-term plans are simply because we don't know even know them at this point. Of course, we're always looking at different options for the future. We're exploring all of our options for the future and will continue to do so." Halse said, "We're very appreciate of the welcome we've received from Harbour Breton. We certainly appreciate our work force there, and we want to assure everyone that Cooke will be processing salmon in the area for a long time. As a matter of fact, we hope to grow our business in the area and will be making further investments to that end. You can rest assured that we would not be building a sate-of-the-art salmon hatchery in the Coast of Bays if we didn't have long-term plans for the area."
