Options to Lease was to expire around late March this year.
In early April 2019, Cermaq announced that it had been awarded three Options to Lease – two in the Chedabucto Bay region, and one south of Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada. It needs 10-20 sites to make the USD 500 million project viable.
On Friday, the provincial government gave Cermaq Canada an extension on the deadline to file an application reports Halifax Examiner.
The Mitsibushi owned company now has more time to investigate the possibility of expanding Atlantic salmon farming operations into Nova Scotia – specifically the Digby, Guysborough and Richmond areas.
In a statement, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFA) said that “in response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation [it] has reviewed the directives from the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the impacts to aquaculture services and licensing and leasing processes,” and determined that “there is a temporary suspension of approved Option period expiry dates” allowing for the applicants to “continue community engagements but only after the social distancing restrictions are discontinued.”
