Scrap Newfoundland marine park plan, says Cooke Seafood

Glenn Cooke’s letter continues: “As a seafood company with local and global fishing and aquaculture interests, it is clear that shifts in the distribution of fish stocks and changing marine conditions, including severe weather events, mean that the most responsible way to have a sustainable seafood industry is to provide harvesters and aquaculture producers with flexibility to conduct their work in multiple areas with conservation objectives and regulatory oversight guiding operations.

“Closing off a massive Newfoundland ocean area now to fishing and aquaculture within an exclusion zone such as an NMCA will have devasting long-term negative socio-economic impacts because it eliminates the flexibility the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and seafood industry needs.

“The livelihoods of countless families depend on seafood harvesting and production, and the NMCA will directly threaten the jobs that sustain them.

He adds: “Additionally, the NMCA will prohibit our ability to establish a wild Atlantic salmon marine conservation farm in partnership with local First Nations. This facility is crucial to aid the recovery of river stocks, and the NMCA will eliminate any opportunity to collaborate.

“Marine aquaculture farming is one of the healthiest and most efficient ways to feed the population with minimal environmental impact, the lowest freshwater use and the lowest carbon footprint of any animal protein.

“Our NL Atlantic salmon farms are routinely inspected by provincial regulators, are subject to regular monitoring reports and are also routinely audited and certified by third-party sustainability organizations. These activities and more are designed to protect NL waters, wild salmon, and traditional fisheries.”

Cooke says he is not opposed to a national park being set up elsewhere in the province and to include a smaller marine conservation area.

But he adds: “However, we urge you and cabinet to withdraw from the proposed federal NMCA and ensure the economic and social well-being of south coast communities and the sustainability of provincial fisheries and aquaculture operations continues to be prioritised.”