Community tensions, clashing scientific opinions at Antigonish oyster farm hearing

Community conflict and duelling scientific opinions over a proposed oyster farm in Antigonish Harbour played out Thursday during the second day of public hearings before the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board.

Former Lindsay Construction executive Ernie Porter is behind the Town Point Consulting application to put a 36-hectare oyster farm in Antigonish Harbour.

The lawyer representing opponents of the project challenged him on Thursday, suggesting claims of community support were exaggerated, and perhaps the result of pressure as Porter went door to door gathering written letters of support

"Are you aware that a number of the people that you identified, quite a significant number, as being supportive in fact, were either undecided or opposed to your proposal," Peter Rogers asked.

"What I'm aware of is that there was a pressure campaign to reach out to people that were then lobbied, or maybe even worse than that, to either retract their form or change their stance. And that's a sad situation, but that happened," Porter replied.

Porter denied trying to strong arm anyone, saying the written letters of support he gathered were voluntary.

'This is not a plebiscite'

Board chair Jean McKenna also weighed in.

"This is not a plebiscite," she said.

"Mr. Porter said the purpose of the form was to gauge what people's thoughts were and to understand people's objections and to provide them with information. However many changed their mind or felt pressured to sign really doesn't matter."

She said the Town Point application will be evaluated based on established criteria: the impact on local fisheries and other water users in the area, the environment, navigation, wild salmon sustainability, community and provincial economic development, its effect on nearby aquaculture operations and the optimum use of marine resources.

"We look at the eight factors. And whether one side or the other has marshalled more support for the project is interesting to know, but it is not at all a decisive factor. We are not politicians," McKenna said.

Expert witnesses dispute opponents' claims

Town Point called two scientific experts to refute evidence cited by opponents of the proposed oyster farm.

David Garbary, a St. Francis Xavier biology professor and an expert in eelgrass, dismissed assertions from retired DFO scientist Peter Cranford that Antigonish Harbour is not suited to oyster farming and that such a farm would pose an environmental risk.

He said Cranford identified the benefits of water filtration from oyster cultivation in a 2019 paper.

"Based on Cranford's generalizations, I conclude that shellfish aquaculture in Antigonish Harbour will likely be positive and at worst, benign," Garbary said.

One of the issues in the hearing is what impact an oyster farm would have on eelgrass in the harbour.

A student of Garbary's swam at one lease site and found no eelgrass. Random core samples he conducted at two others found no evidence of eelgrass.

That was a major concern of the Friends of Antigonish Harbour, a group opposed to the project that approached Garbary early on.

Their fears an oyster farm would destroy eelgrass beds and therefore the entire ecosystem were overblown, according to Garbary, who became an advocate for the project.

Pro-oyster farm prof admits misquoting DFO

On Thursday, he acknowledged DFO scientist Jeff Barrell did find eelgrass in Antigonish Harbour during video and sonar surveys that formed part of a report submitted to the province.

He said photographs from Barrell showed the eel grass was dead in places, patchy elsewhere and not healthy.

But he was caught misrepresenting the DFO report at a 2021 community liaison committee meeting.

He told Rogers he couldn't recall telling the audience "there is virtually no eelgrass. We went down, we sent swimmers down in those places. We confirmed with DFO scientists, there is no eelgrass, virtually nothing."

Rogers then played a video of him at the meeting saying that.

"Having seen that clip, does that refresh your memory?

"It does. And I'm probably misquoting the Barrell document," Garbary said.

Studies brought forward dismissed as superficial

Town Point expert Jon Grant, a Dalhousie biology professor, said the fact that oyster beds existed in the harbour historically shows "it's ideal oyster habitat."

He downplayed Barrell's survey and dismissed Cranford's.

"I think Dr. Barrell would tell you that his investigation is superficial and it could only make preliminary conclusions. Dr. Cranford's: it would be a stretch to call that an investigation," he said.

The three-member board was scheduled to tour the proposed site late Thursday.

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