N.S. judge upholds fisheries minister's right to impose licence moratorium

A Supreme Court of Nova Scotia judge has rejected an attempt by a Meteghan lobster processor to have the courts overturn a decision made or upheld by three fisheries ministers in Nova Scotia.

Lobster Hub Inc. first applied for a fish buyers and processors licence in February 2021. The company wants to process snow crab in addition to lobster at its processing plant.

The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture rejected the application, citing a moratorium placed on those licences unless they were tied to an aquaculture operation or secondary processing. The freeze has been in place since 2018 while the department reviews its licensing policy.

The company appealed but Liberal fisheries minister Keith Colwell rejected it about a month before the PCs took power in 2021.

The company tried to lobby Premier Tim Houston about a year later, expressing concern about Colwell's reasoning.

Company's argument rejected

Steve Craig, the fisheries minister in the new Houston government, reiterated his predecessor's position, that the application process was still frozen while the department conducted its review.

This spring, current Fisheries Minister Kent Smith rejected the company's third attempt to get a licence. That triggered the appeal.

Earlier this week, Justice James Chipman dismissed the company's argument that the decision was "unreasonable, incorrect and/or procedurally unfair."

Chipman rejected all three main issues in the appeal, including the company's contention the minister did not have the power to impose "a sweeping and apparently indefinite moratorium."

He made it clear the law "explicitly authorizes the minister's refusal to grant such an application."

The law, according to Chipman, grants the minister "ample authority … to create a policy not to issue new licences while the licensing policy review is still in progress if he is satisfied it is in the public interest to do so."

Lawyer says fight will continue

"The Minister clearly has the statutory authority to create and administer policies," wrote Chipman. "The moratorium is one such policy."

Richard Norman, lawyer for Lobster Hub Inc., said his client is disappointed with the ruling, but plans to fight on to expand his business and seek a justification for the ongoing moratorium.

Norman said his client continues to be frustrated by the department's policy review, now into its sixth year.

He said the moratorium is not only stifling his client's desire to expand operations, it is preventing jobs and other economic benefits that would flow from that expansion.