The new venture is applying to establish three new independent fish farms.
Talking to The Telegram Mike Rose who is part of the team applying to set up salmon farm sites near the communities of Burgeo, Ramea and La Poile, characterised their approach to the project ‘as slow and deliberate.”
“I’ve grown up here in N.L.,” Rose said. “I know how important these areas are. I always think of the fishermen first and the fishing interest in these areas.”
Rose met with the individual fishing communities in the area in to get a real understanding of their livelihoods.
It took two years for Green Island Salmon to research and to conduct environmental assessments in the proposed areas with the Norwegian company Akvaplan to find the most ideal sites to set up. Rose and his partners formed an incorporated company specifically for the project called Green Island Salmon. The N.L. based company has also been working with Norwegian partners and has had signficanty investment from Scandinavia.
Planning ahead
As well as the farms, they aim to use a well boat to deliver the fish to a single processing plant. The location of the plant is still under consideration.
Rose said if they get to the point where they are producing 10,000-15,000 tonnes of fish annually, over the course of five to six years, he thinks you would see 150 or more jobs with the company and surrounding industries.
Rose plans to have the company’s applications filed for the sites within the next week or two. He expects the approval process, which is managed by the dept. of fish agriculture, to take six-10 months – meaning fish in the water by autumn 2019.
