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Image: Town Point Oysters / FIS
There will be an oyster farm in Antigonish Harbor
(CANADA, 1/8/2024)
The following is an excerpt from an article published by Radio-Canada:
The arguments of opponents of the project did not convince the committee which has just given it the green light.
An oyster farm project in the port of Antigonish has just been approved in Nova Scotia.
The green light was given Friday by the province's aquaculture review board, described as an independent decision-making body.
Town Point Oysters plans to grow up to three million oysters per year on three sites totaling 36 hectares.
Ernie Porter, owner of Town Point Oysters, says seeding will begin this spring.
The project faced vigorous opposition from some community members.
They said they were concerned about the health of the watershed, potential obstacles to commercial and recreational activities in the port, and a drop in the value of neighboring properties.
In a statement, two spokespersons for the project's opponents, Peter Bowler and Mike MacDonald, said they were obviously disappointed with the decision.
They accuse the commission of ignoring or dismissing crucial facts that were presented before it during public hearings on the issue.
In its decision rendered Friday, the aquaculture review commission said it was convinced by the arguments of the entrepreneur, who assured that the farm would not cause damage to the ecosystem, and without risks for species such as eelgrass. marine and the piping plover.
Ernie Porter claimed that this aquaculture project would even be an environmental asset, because the filtering of the water by the oysters would result in a cleaner estuary.
The opinion of a scientist was not convinced
 Oceanographer Peter Cranford, retired from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, asserted on the contrary that tidal flushing was too weak to evacuate organic matter from the site. The commission rejected its opinion — which had been presented by opponents during the hearings — and asserted that its conclusions ignored certain fundamental scientific principles and were based on too limited a sample.
The Town Point oyster farm will have to respect certain obligations. It cannot encroach on areas where wild oysters are fished and limit the obstruction of a navigation route.
"These are reasonable conditions that we expected", said Ernie Porter. [Continues...]
Author: Paul Withers | Radio-Canada | Read the full article by clicking the link here (Translated from the original in French)
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www.seafood.media
Information of the company:
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Address:
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240 Sparks Street
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City:
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Ottawa
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State/ZIP:
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Ontario (QC G5H 3Z4)
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Country:
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Canada
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Phone:
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+1 613 993 0999
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Fax:
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+1 613 990 1866
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E-Mail:
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[email protected]
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More about: 
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