Kelly Cove Salmon secures approval to expand Liverpool Bay site.
Kelly Cove Salmon has received approval from the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board to expand its existing Atlantic salmon farm in Liverpool Bay, Nova Scotia, following a protracted regulatory process.
The decision permits the company to add six additional sea cages at its Coffin Island site, increasing the total number of cages from 14 to 20. The application was first filed in 2019 and follows a process that began in 2018 when the province granted the company an option to lease in Liverpool Bay.
In its ruling, the board stated that the expansion “represents the optimum use of marine resources.” It also referenced a 2022 review by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which neither recommended approval nor rejection of the proposal.
Kelly Cove Salmon is owned by Cooke Aquaculture. Joel Richardson, vice-president of Cooke Aquaculture, said the approval followed seven years of consultation, regulatory review and public engagement.
“The changes took seven years to get approved and to go through public consultation and do open houses and talk to the community and go through all the regulatory processes and reviews. So this is a very rigorous process,” Richardson said.
The Coffin Island site currently produces approximately 400,000 fish annually. With the additional cages, the company expects to increase production to around 600,000 fish per year. Richardson indicated that the new cages are unlikely to be installed for several years, as the company must wait for the next harvesting cycle.
The approval follows a lengthy public hearing held in October 2025. Interveners included Protect Liverpool Bay Association, commercial fishermen, the Region of Queens Municipality and the Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn Negotiation Office on behalf of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs.