Halibut Farm to Create 70 Jobs

A group of Nova Scotia business partners, together with an Icelandic company, is setting up a $14.5-million aquaculture operation in Shelburne County.

To be called Scotian Halibut, the land-based operation will include a halibut hatchery in Clark's Harbour and what's known as a grow-out facility in Lower Woods Harbour where fish are grown to market size. The project will create 70 jobs over the next five years.

"We're very excited about this project and have been since we first met our Iceland partners, Fiskey, three years ago during a provincial trade mission," said Peter Swim, vice-president and CEO of Scotian Halibut. "Fiskey's technology and our collective experience in the fisheries and aquaculture businesses are sure to make the Nova Scotia operation a world-class facility."

The province will provide Scotian Halibut with a $1.2-million loan to build the facilities. An additional $990,000 will be made available in a form comparable to a loan guarantee to help finance the fish stock. Work on the facilities is under way and will be completed in 2001.

"Our support is an investment in a growing industry," said Clifford Huskilson, Minister of Transportation and Public Works, who made the announcement on behalf of Manning MacDonald, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. "The Scotian Halibut project will help to diversify our fisheries, will increase our exports, and will create jobs in an area of high unemployment."

Scotian Halibut will produce and market high-quality halibut juveniles and market-size halibut within two years for export throughout North America. The farmed halibut the company is developing will provide ready markets with a steady supply.

The company's facilities will use the latest water re-circulation technologies. Land-based aquaculture systems provide greater security and minimize the environmental impact associated with ocean-based aquaculture.

The project will also provide opportunities for Nova Scotia companies to supply equipment, feed and technological services.

Fiskey has produced 70 per cent of all halibut juveniles in the world during the past year. In the past decade, the Icelandic company has invested $12 million in research and development work. Along with companies in Norway and Scotland, it has pioneered much of the aquaculture technology Scotian Halibut will use in Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotian and Icelandic business partners met during a provincial trade mission to Iceland in 1996.

Economic Development and Tourism provides business counselling, export assistance and financial support to more than 900 Nova Scotia companies, 80 per cent of which are in rural areas. These companies generate more than $2.5 billion in sales and $110 million in provincial tax revenues each year. The department's support helps these companies to become more competitive, create jobs and increase exports, which are necessary for a growing economy. And a growing economy is the only sustainable way of preserving the school and health care systems.