Cooke's subsidiary Kelly Cove Salmon's farm off Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Photo: Cooke / Kelly Cove Salmon.
The Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board (ARB) announced yesterday its decision to approve the amendment and expansion of the lease limit for the offshore salmon farm AQ#1205, located off Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay. This is the Atlantic salmon farm of Cooke's subsidiary, Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd., which the company has operated since 2011 and which it requested expand in September 2023.
At that time, Kelly Cove also applied for two new marine finfish aquaculture licenses and leases in Liverpool Bay, Brooklyn, and Mersey Point, but, as noted in the ARB resolution, in June 2025, KCS wrote to the Board requesting the separation of both applications, asking to suspend the first one, and schedule for public hearing only the Coffin Island site issues.
Before that, in February 2024, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston had expressed his rejection of Cooke's plans to expand its salmon farming operations in Liverpool Bay. "While I think there are incredible opportunities for aquaculture in this province, it's my personal opinion that Liverpool Bay is not an appropriate place for that," he then said.
It is to mention that the previous year, the Nova Scotia Government had decided to halt new fish farming applications while it adopted a 'traffic light' system for fish farming licenses, similar to that of Norway, shortly after a report commissioned by Nova Scotia's Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture called for more information to be made available on aquaculture regulation for both citizens and the industry.
Thus, when assessing the decision of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board, Joel Richardson, Vice President of Public Relations for Cooke Aquaculture Inc., parent company of Kelly Cove, emphasized the publicity throughout the process. "The week-long ARB public hearing in October was rigorous and brought together input from multiple stakeholders and intervenors," he said.
"We appreciate that the Board allowed the time necessary for everyone to make presentations, ask questions and gain an understanding of how our aquaculture farming works," Richardson added.
To support that understanding, and as part of the audience, Kelly Cove Salmon even presented a video of more than 13 minutes in length, in which, through different testimonies, it explained how its operations worked in Liverpool Bay.
As mentioned above, the farm allowed to expand has been operated by Kelly Cove since 2011, and, in its statement yesterday, the Cooke subsidiary emphasized that it has done so "in compliance with the government's Environmental Monitoring Program."
Now, this approval will allow KCS to add 6 cages to the site for Atlantic salmon farming, bringing its total number to 20. The ARB concluded that it is satisfied that there will be no negative, or any, impact of this amendment on any of the statutory conditions.
Among the conclusions of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board, Kelly Cove's release highlighted that ARB considers the re-drawing of the boundary to encompass the infrastructure, as well as the addition of six new cages, represents the optimum use of marine resources, in that the site will be used to efficiently produce thousands of kilograms of food.
In their opinion, the oceanographic and biophysical characteristics of the public waters surrounding the proposed aquaculture operation are suitable for salmon aquaculture, and the proposed expansion will not have a negative impact on other users of its surrounding public waters.
Furthermore, it also concluded that the farm makes a genuine contribution to community and provincial economic development, does not cause significant negative impacts on other fishing activities in Liverpool Bay, and there is no significant impact on the public right of navigation.
Finally, the ARB decision also noted that the proposed expansion at Kelly Cove's Atlantic salmon farm will not have any significant impact on the local wild salmon population, and the existing farm has not had a significant impact since it began operating fifteen years ago.
For its part, Cooke's subsidiary reported that it plans to install new, state-of-the-art cages, containment nets and underwater smart-farming technology which includes an integrated suite of advanced digital tools, sensors, robotics, and AI-driven systems designed to monitor fish farming in real-time.
According to KCS, these green technologies aim to enhance operational efficiency and optimize fish welfare while promoting overall sustainability.
The news of the approval of the expansion of Kelly Cove Salmon's farm off Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay, Nova Scotia, has been welcomed both within the company and in the Canadian province's aquaculture sector.
"Being able to live and work in the community where I was born and raised means a great deal to me and my family," said Chad Schrader, Site Manager at the Coffin Island Salmon Farm. "I'm proud of the work we do at the Coffin Island site and know we can grow the farm responsibly and sustainably. I'm glad the ARB relied on sound science and the real facts about modern aquaculture when making its decision," he added.
The Executive Director of the Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia, Jeff Bishop, said for his part that its members are very pleased to see the salmon farm expansion approval. "As sea farmers, we are focused on providing sustainable meals grown right here at home. Supporting and encouraging growth in our resource sectors strengthens rural and urban parts of our province. We look forward to future ARB decisions that will help guide investment within the aquaculture sector, and our province," he stated.
Finally, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Canada's largest and oldest industrial and trade association, which acts as the primary voice of the country's manufacturers and exporters, also applauded the approval decision by the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board to enable the Liverpool salmon farm expansion.
"With continued export market demand for nutritious food protein, the seafood sector is building prosperity for Nova Scotians and aquaculture plays a vital role," said Michel Raymond, Vice President, Nova Scotia Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.