When fences make bad neighbors...
Billion dollar multinational firm Cooke Aquaculture has had a bad week and it appears to be getting worse. The Granville Road community near Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia has shouted a loud, unanimous "NO" to Cooke's plans to install a massive industrial fish farm and hatchery on protected heritage marshlands. The escape of 300,000 salmon from Cooke's salmon feedlot on Puget Sound near Seattle - which they originally blamed on the solar eclipse - has been described as "disastrous", resulting in a civil lawsuit, investigations by several agencies and postponment of an application for another large, industrial salmon feedlot nearby.
Bad history in Shelburne
In historic Shelburne, where Cooke has installed several salmon feedlot farms and has overseen the die-off of millions of market-ready fish from a deadly infectious salmon anemia and created "dead zones" in the harbour beneath their salmon cages, Cooke seems determined to respond to a neighbor's complaints about trash and fish farm detritus fouling thier operation facility by erecting an 14-foot fence which would completely block the harbour view of Debbie Belong and her husband Leslie.
"I see no reason for Cooke to build an 14-foot fence in front of the Belong's property other than spite and retribution," one official familiar with the situation told SCT.
Cooke VP of communications told reporters that the fence was part of "improvements" at the site, which she says includes some landscaping.
Cooke executive Jeff Nickerson has been responding to some inquiries from local officials about the giant fence, saying that Debbie Belong requested that he install it. "The man is simply a liar," Debbie Belong told SCT. "Why would I ever ask for a massive fence blocking our million-dollar view of this beautiful harbour, especially since there was a fence already fence there?" (seen in illustration at right) She told SCT that the original fence was obscured from sight by a variety of refuse.
Little to be done about industrial waste
The fracas began almost four weeks ago, when Debbie Belong became upset at what she described as "trash" being dumped by Cooke employees on the roadside across from her property in the Sandy Point district of Shelburne. "This is a beautiful place," she said, "and we have enjoyed it here for decades." Belong made inquiries with Cooke Aquaculture and officials with the Municipality of Shelburne and was told by Cooke executives that the "mess would be cleaned up". She spoke with several municipal officials and shortly after that, some of the refuse was cleaned up, but then was informed that there was nothing she could do about the construction of what she referred to a "that large wall.".
Having gained a reputation over the years for not cleaning up after itself, Cooke has also apparently abandoned a hatchery in Mink Cove on Digby Neck, leaving residents there to complain about Cooke's creation of "another eyesore".
Damaging tourism?
Belong turned to a local community Facebook page with her complaints and saw much agreement there from others in the community that Cooke should remedy the situation. Several of the comments noted that Sandy Point Road was a thoroughfare to the famed lighthouse at the harbour entrance and that the unsightly Cooke facility might damage a tourist's experience of the area.
Hoping common sense can prevail
Municipal deputy warden David levy told SCT in an interview that he had met with Debbie Belong and had been in contact with several Cooke officials in attempts for forge a resolution to the situation and that, in those discussions, he was "acting on her behalf". "I asked Cooke executives to stop work on the fence until we could resolve the outstanding issues," Levy said in an interview with SCT. "I am hoping common sense can prevail here," he added. "Cooke employess don't need to antagonize their neighbors and nothing should be done here that suggests retribution [for making complaints]".
"It would be nice," said Belong, "if someone had the courtesy to let me know that."
Cooke committee a "joke"
Levy sits as a citizen representative on Cooke's Community Liason Commitee, but says that he appears to be the only remaining working member. Others who have asked not to be identifies have described the Liason Committee as "a joke" and have complained that the Committee has been largely kept in the dark by Cooke and puclic relations VP Nell Halse.
Billions in revenue, millions in government support
Cooke is a New Brunswick-based multinational corporation whose revenues exceed $1 billion and who specializes in industrial open pen salmon farms. The firm owns farms in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, Chile, Scotland and Spain. A Cooke subsidiary in Chile has been named in a government report on the spread of the immune salmon anemia viris (ISAv) similar to the strain which devastated the Chilean industry in 2007, resulting in the slaughter of millions of fish and the loss of more than 7,000 jobs. Cooke has also suffered losses in many of its farms totaling millions of market-sized salmon from ISA, sea lice and super chill. The company has received millions of dollars in compensation from the Canadian government for losses from disease outbreaks.
SEE PREVIOUS STORIES ABOUT COOKE AQUACULTURE
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Federal quarantine for Cooke aquaculture in Shelburne, Nova Scotia
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Cooke Aquaculture charged by Environment Canada in illegal pesticide use
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Premier McNeil calling in Cooke loan?
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Cooke Aqua pays only $2 million of loan package
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Cooke Aquaculture eager to stock Jordan Bay cages
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Cooke Aqua sees continued disease in Chile operations
