Harbour Breton salmon plant won't reopen

A salmon processing plant in Harbour Breton will not be re-opening anytime soon, although the building itself may yet have a future in the fishery.

Cooke Aquaculture said it has been told by its landlord, the Barry Group, that its lease will not be renewed. The handover date will be Jan. 31.

"The landlord has stated publicly that they intended to operate the facility after our lease expires," Chuck Brown, communications manager for New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, said in a statement to CBC News.

"We informed our employees on Friday and we want to express our appreciation to them for their support since we started production in 2008."

Cooke Aquaculture has not been processing at Harbour Breton since November because some of its salmon had become infected. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the salmon to be destroyed.

Cooke Aquaculture is now looking for new premises in the province to process salmon grown at its farms on Newfoundland's south coast.

"We expect we'll require processing capacity in the spring or summer of 2014," Brown said.