A decision is expected in the new year on an application by Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. for a boundary amendment to its salmon farm near Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay.
A public hearing held by the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board from Oct. 7 to 10 in Bridgewater attracted presentations by six parties — the applicant (Kelly Cove), the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Region of Queens Municipality, the Protect Liverpool Bay Association, The Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn (KMK) and a group called the 23 Fishermen, said Stacy Bruce, clerk of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board.
“Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board (ARB) as part of a public hearing regarding our application for a boundary amendment for farm AQ#1205, located at Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay,” said the company in an Oct. 7 media release.
“The application before the ARB is for a modest expansion to the Coffin Island farm. Currently, the farm has 440,000 Atlantic salmon across 14 cages. The application is to add six cages and 198,000 fish to the existing site, which would increase the total number of fish to 660,000. Extensive performance reviews have assessed the technical and biological assessment of the salmon farm, and the site is compliant with the environmental regulations.”
Originally, Kelly Cove had submitted an application for the boundary amendment and two new finfish aquaculture grow-out sites at Brooklyn and Mersey Point in Liverpool Bay.
“Over six years have passed since Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.’s applications for the three marine finfish aquaculture farms in Liverpool Bay were submitted to the provincial government for a hearing on their merits. To advance our application in 2025, Kelly Cove decided to only seek a hearing for boundary amendments for the existing Coffin Island marine finfish farm. The original application was split and the two new proposed sites are being held in abeyance,” said Joel Richardson, vice president, public relations for parent company Cooke Aquaculture.
Bruce said the Board made diligent efforts to secure a suitable venue in Liverpool for the hearing dates. “Unfortunately, and despite these best efforts, the Board was unable to find or secure such a venue and as such the only available venue in close proximity to Liverpool was the Days Inn in Bridgewater. This situation has occurred previously and as such the Board saw no issue or any prejudice to the parties in scheduling the matter for Bridgewater. As with all the Board’s hearings, this hearing was also livestreamed for those unable to attend in person. There was an average of 90 people logging in to the live stream on each of the four days of the hearing,” he said.
A second session was held virtually on Oct. 31 before the hearing was adjourned. Post-hearing, a period of time will be granted for all parties to submit final written arguments.
“At the end of this final submission period, the timer for a decision will begin. No dates are currently set for this final written argument submission but are expected to be set at the conclusion of the October 31 hearing session,” said Bruce.
The review board follows a legislated timeline for adjudicative hearings.
“We are confident that Kelly Cove Salmon demonstrated the Coffin Island farm expansion presents no unacceptable risk and satisfied the factors to be considered in ARB decisions related to marine aquaculture sites. We are optimistic that the Board will approve this boundary amendment, and we look forward to continuing to be part of the working waterfront in Liverpool Bay,” said Richardson.
Kelly Cove has been responsibly operating Atlantic salmon farm sites for more than 25 years in Nova Scotia and has invested over $250M in establishing salmon farms, plant and distribution facilities, trucking operations and other buildings.
Today, Kelly Cove and its affiliates have 323 full-time employees in Nova Scotia, which results in an annual payroll of over $17.7M, taxation of $10.4M, and $19.4M in estimated local consumer spending. In 2025, the company spent over $60M buying goods and services that support over 400 Nova Scotian businesses.
