COOKE CEO GLENN COOKE
Cooke Aquaculture has repaid the province of Nova Scotia $ 2 million of the $18 million accessed to date from a 2012 loan package.
The money, paid back April 8, was part of $25 million in funding announced in 2012, $9 million of which was a forgivable loan $4 million was tied to the number of jobs created, research development and commercialization of innovation in the aquaculture industry.
To access the funding Cooke agreed to invest $150 million in Shelburne County by creating a fish processing plant in Shelburne County, which it said would have created more than 300, full-time, well-paying jobs, in addition to a hatchery in Digby and a feed mill in Truro. Cooke announced in 2015 it would reneg on the promise to build the processing plant. The prospect of having the plant in Shelburne, combined with strong opposition to hosting what many feel is a dangerous and unsustainable industry in the area led to months of acrimony in the community, and set neighbor against neighbor on the issue.
Cooke executives say one of the main reasons the fish plant in Shelburne did not happen was because of a regulatory review the province conducted, and the hold on any new aquaculture sites during the review. Former Fisheries and Aquaculture minister Sterling Belliveau told SCT that Cooke was well aware that the loan agreement was based upon the number of salmon cages in the water at the time of signing. “I’ve said all along that if Cooke doesn’t meet their obligation to the community and the province then they should immediately repay any loans they have received with interest. I’m extremely disappointed Cooke has not lived up to its commitment to build a processing facility in Shelburne and the government is taking the correct action by recalling the loan, ” said Belliveau
Shelburne mayor Karen Mattatall has asked the provincial government to use the $2 million for economic development in the area, citing loss of opportunity due to Cooke renegging on the agreement.
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