Rencontre East, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
Isolated and Loving It

Early this year a number of dead lobsters were found in the waters around Belleoram. DFO scientists blamed the deaths on a higher then normal level of iron in the waters and said the aquaculture operations in the region had nothing to do with it. Some local lobster fishermen, including nearby Rencontre East Mayor Tom Caines is not so sure and for years has been one of the few people to speak out against aquaculture growth in the region.

While aquaculture is looked at by some as a saviour for rural areas of the province, others aren’t as welcoming.

Mayor of Rencontre East and lobster fisherman Tom Caines said people in his small south coast community have been protesting the aquaculture industry for many years.

“We don’t see any benefits for Rencontre (East).”

Mayor Caines was recently a guest speaker at the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Associations (NAIA) annual conference and trade show, Cold Harvest 2007, where he spoke about the concerns of citizens in his community.

While there, Mayor Caines took part in a Community Awareness Session- Building Supportive Aquaculture Communities, along with mayors from throughout the region and province. “I was like a pebble on the beach because I was about the only one there that was speaking out against it.”

Mayor Caines said Fortune Bay has some of the best lobster stocks in Newfoundland. They are afraid aquaculture operations may lead to the destruction of the stocks. Approximately 46 of the 165 people in the small town are directly or indirectly employed by the lobster fishery.

Earlier this year a number of dead lobsters were found in the water around Belleoram. DFO scientists blamed the deaths on a higher then normal level of iron in the water. But according to Mr. Caines, himself along with many other local fishermen are not confident in the findings.

He noted other problems such as the amount of space in the bay taken up by fish cages

“Where are you going to put your (lobster) pots to when they it full of cages.”

The FFAW/CAW board member for the south coast, Mildred Skinner, said right now some harvesters in the St. Jacques area don’t have access to their traditional grounds. “Cooke Aquaculture agreed, when they came in, they would place their cages in 30 fathoms of water. Now their cages are in 15 fathoms of water. That's a big difference. Fish harvesters are concerned about this.”

She said there won't be much point in creating jobs in one sector and losing them in another.

“Fish harvesters are not saying aquaculture should not happen. But, we need to be consulted. We need to have a committee established where everyone involved sits on the committee to bring concerns and issues to the attention of the companies involved with aquaculture.”

With regards to the dead lobster incident in Belleoram, Ms. Skinner said no fish harvester has actually seen a report that clearly states aquaculture didn’t contribute in any way to the death of those lobsters.

Mayor Caines said they aren’t against industry but they are monitoring what people are doing and are fighting for what they believe in.

“If we lose what we got, we might as well turn the key and bar (lock) this place up.”

One of the Cooke Aquaculture sites in Belleoram.

Parties with major interests in aquaculture met with fisherman from throughout the south coast recently to discuss some of their concerns with the industry that many believe is a key piece of the puzzle to help the region rebound.

Executive director of the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA), Miranda Pryor was at the meeting in Belleoram and said it was designed to make sure people have the right information about aquaculture.

She said people can become concerned if they feel they are being pushed out of the way and don’t have access to sites they’ve always been able to fish.

“That’s a legitimate concern,” said Ms. Pryor, “I think to be a responsible industry we have to be willing to work with all user groups.”

The plan is to work with everyone – fishery, tourism, everyone – to make sure that what they’re doing is ok for the local communities and doesn’t impact people’s livelihoods.

Ms. Pryor said she has worked to find information from other places such as New Brunswick where she said they have a very viable lobster fishery as well as salmon farming.

Tom Caines, mayor of Rencontre East and local lobster fishermen, told the Coaster in a previous interview members of his community, which include a large number of lobster fishermen, have been against aquaculture for a long time.

Mayor Caines spoke at a community forum at the recent NAIA annual conference and voiced some of his communities concerned with those attending.

Ms. Pryor said it’s important to get input from all of those involved in the regions industries. She believes local fishermen who had concerns about aquaculture felt as though they weren’t being consulted enough on where the farms were going to be located.

“They felt that some of the sites were put in and they weren’t in the places they thought they were going to be, so it ended up impacting some of their areas somewhat.”

She believes a lot of the confusion and concerns with the industry can be contributed to a lack of good communication and getting the proper information out.

It’s important said Ms. Pryor to get people out to the sites, show them where they are and how to work around them.

“Fish farming is very new to a lot of these areas and when the people see the sites go out they think can’t go in around them or they can’t get this close to the buoys or something like that.”

She said it’s then their responsibility to take people and show them where they can put their traps and how close to the sites the can get to them, etc.

“Then people generally do feel better about it. But if they hear a lot of the bad stuff first, then they just get concerned,” said Ms. Pryor. “And that’s legitimate, but then they’re afraid that their going to be pushed out.”

Ms. Pryor said there is a lot of water out there and they are willing to work with all those involved in the various industries so that everyone can benefit.

Cooke Aquaculture, one of the emerging major players in the aquaculture industry in the region, also had representatives at the meeting.

Nell Halse, director of communications with Cooke Aquaculture said they met with a number of fishermen who felt as if they were not properly consulted during the company’s site applications.

“They really wanted to have a chance and to find out what is the process.”

Ms. Halse said they were asked to come and meet with the fishermen. She described it as a good meeting and a chance for the fishermen to air their concerns.

She said in the beginning they had a number of notices put in the papers and held a number of open-houses and private meetings. Even after that she believes some fishermen didn’t believe they were consulted enough.

“So what we said, ‘Well look, we’re intending to be here for the long term.’”

Ms. Halse said their success in other areas has shown there is no reason why aquaculture and the lobster fishery cannot co-exist and use the same space without hurting one another.

“But we understood that because it’s fairly new in this area that those people had a right to be concerned. So we wanted to make sure we addressed all those concerns.”

One of the highlights of the meeting said Ms. Halse was that a working group or committee was set up between the company and fishermen to continually discuss some of the concerns. The chair of the fishermen’s union will meet with members of the company’s management in a few weeks to discuss the concerns.

Ms. Halse said they are very flexible and would make changes where possible after considering all the issues.