Lobster fishermen and coastal communities bring salmon fight to Halifax
On Friday June 17th at 11:00am at the Nova Scotia Province House on Granville Street in Halifax.
Members of coastal community organizations and lobster fishermen will join the Ecology Action Centre to protest the Provincial Government’s support for the rapid expansion of industrial-scale salmon farms despite widespread community opposition.
Join the group on Friday June 17th at 11:00am at the Nova Scotia Legislature. We will hear from speakers from affected coastal communities, lobster fishermen and First Nations groups. We will be easy to find – look for the trucks full of lobster traps that can no longer be placed in the inshore waters where salmon farms will be built.
The recent decision of Sterling Belliveau, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Environment, to approve salmon farm leases in St. Mary’s Bay threatens one of the richest lobster fisheries in the world and is a major step in Cooke Aquaculture’s expansion in Nova Scotia after the disease and environmental problems caused by their farms have limited their opportunities in New Brunswick. We need to act now to keep these large-scale aquaculture sites from ruining our coastal environments and fisheries.
Citizens from coastal communities are growing increasingly frustrated and feel they are being ignored by their elected officials. The St. Mary’s Bay Coastal Alliance and lobster fishermen from LFA 34 have repeatedly raised their concerns about open net salmon farms with Sterling Belliveau, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Environment. They have been consistently ignored and dismissed and are traveling to Halifax to bring a strong message of opposition to open-net salmon farms in their community.
For more information call Jordan Nikoloyuk at 902-446-4840 or email jordan@ecologyaction.ca