Court decision poses ‘low risk’ to salmon project, says Grieg

A recent court decision to subject Grieg Seafood’s massive salmon aquaculture project in Canada to an environmental assessment will not jeopardize the project, said the company.

The planned aquaculture project in Placentia Bay in the province of Newfoundland will feature a large land-based facility for smolt and small salmon (post-smolt) up to 1.5 kg, and 11 sea sites for production of up to 30,000 tons of harvested salmon.

On July 21 a judge has ordered a full environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, overturning an earlier decision by then-environment minister Perry Trimper to free it from such assessment. The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) went to court seeking a judicial review of the decision, and won.

“The minister lacked jurisdiction to release the project,” Butler wrote in her decision.

But Grieg said in a statement on July 23 that it understands that the province is “contesting the verdict strongly, and will most probably appeal the court ruling.” The company added that it considers the court ruling to be of “low risk to our project, and will continue business as usual.”

Grieg added that it got an assurance from “both Federal and Provincial governments that our project has strong public support and public interest by creating jobs and supporting substantial value creation on the Burin peninsula, and that they see no change to their support for the project.”