March 1, 2026

Blue Lantern Shellfish proposal update from “Friends of Mahone Bay”

This note is to advise you that Blue Lantern Shellfish (BLS) has filed an Aquaculture Licence/Lease Application with NS Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. The Department has issued a Notice and invites the public to submit comments on the application and the associated development Plan.  We have 30 days from February 18th to 20 March to officially opine and oppose the proposal.

We are updating our position paper to reflect the changes in the Development Plan and intend to submit the document on behalf of all who signed the online petition; this will include names and addresses of all who signed the petition. It will also include the endorsements of businesses and organizations signed in 2025; if you have objections to that, please contact Friends of Mahone Bay (Eric Claus).  

Below are a few new and important changes to the Development Plan, as submitted by BLS to the ministry:

-              The number of sites that BLS is applying for is reduced from 7 to 3, however the 3 sites still encompass an area of about 50 hectares (over 50 soccer fields) which is the same total size as the original 7. The rationale for our objection to the locations of these sites remains the same and has not changed. 

-              Originally the proponents stated that there was no issue with boats crossing over the scallop farm, given that the nets were well below the surface. That has now changed, and it would be deemed illegal to boat over their designated licensed areas. This is a significant and material change, one that potentially implies breaking the law and creating insurance issues for boater’s incursions.

-              A significant and disturbing element has been added to the BLS proposal, growing  Kelp. This implies thousands of meters of Kelp lines above the scallop nets, just below the surface of the water. The scale of this proposal is massive, maxing out at 258 tons of kelp annually, a MAJOR production. It can also create biofouling which BLS states is resolved by selling it as composting and animal feed. 

-              No land base has been identified and a wharf will be built in a yet to be determined location

-              The BLS Plan outlines in detail, staffing, equipment and more. It even states that BLS will build two restaurants. The Plan implies MAJOR capital requirements in the many millions of dollars, for years to come. We are not privy to the source or credibility of the financing that a plan of this scale would require. This plan, if allowed to proceed, whether it succeeds or fails, will forever change the beautiful ocean area, where we live, work and play.

Below are links to the plan submitted by BLS to the ministry, links to comment with Transport Canada on Navigational issues and a link to the NS Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture where you can submit individual comments to the proposal. 

§  This is a link to the actual Plan submitted to the NS Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture as submitted by the proponents of Blue lantern Shellfish. A lengthy but very interesting read, which among other things dismisses us (Friends of Mahone Bay) as a “small group of landowners and recreational boaters”.  

https://novascotia.ca/fish/aquaculture/public-information/public-notice/REF138-Application.pdf

§  This is a link to the Aquaculture Administrator, NS Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture wherein you can individually opine on the BLS Plan. Use REF138

https://forms.cloud.novascotia.ca/NewSubmission/e47492d3-150c-45f7-865e-0b09eed4d42d

§  This is link to the Federal Department of Transportation where individuals and businesses can oppose the proposed sites for navigational issues. -  Please note that you will have to register with the Navigation Protection Program in order to comment, but the process is included in the link

Site G Andrews Island Registry # 13420 https://nwar-rlen.tc.canada.ca/files-dossiers/2025-215364?GoCTemplateCulture=en

Site H Rous Island Registry # 13421 https://nwar-rlen.tc.canada.ca/files-dossiers/2025-215365?GoCTemplateCulture=en

Site I Kaulbach Island Registry # 13422   https://nwar-rlen.tc.canada.ca/files-dossiers/2025-215366?GoCTemplateCulture=en