Digby lobster pound threatened with licence termination gets reprieve, for now
SeaBrook Fisheries says government's decision to stay order a 'small step' to getting business back on track
The Nova Scotia government has agreed to stay an order terminating the provincial operating licences of a Digby-area lobster pound until a court decides an appeal of its directive.
This is the second time the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture has delayed enforcing its decision to strip SeaBrook Fisheries of its buyers and processing licences.
Losing the licences would shut down the 40-year-old business.
"I feel good about this. This is one small step, but there's still a long ways to go," said second-generation owner Brent Lewis.
The licences were terminated because SeaBrook failed to notify the province that ownership had been passed to Lewis, who is the son of the founders.
The shares were transferred in 2020. The province picked up on the change in 2021 during the annual licence renewal.
In April 2021, the department notified SeaBrook it was terminating its licences on the grounds that control of the company had changed and notice had not been provided.
'It's the same family business'
Lewis has said it was a clerical error in succession planning, and one that does not warrant closing the business.
He was aware of the 30-day requirement, but did not think the transfer constituted a material change.
"There's no outsiders involved. The plant wasn't sold. It's the same family business — my father, my mother and myself," he told CBC News in an interview days before the licences were set to become invalid on Nov. 26, 2021.
SeaBrook was scheduled for an emergency hearing two days before that deadline.
Before the hearing went ahead, the province agreed to suspend the termination until Jan. 18, when a judge would hear a company motion to freeze the termination until an appeal of the ministerial decision takes place.
On Dec. 31, the province signed a consent order that stays the licence terminations until a judge reaches a decision in the appeal.
"You know, there'll be no more threats of terminating licences. But at the same time, I requested a meeting with the minister to talk about this, not go to court, but that got rejected. He won't meet," said Lewis.
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture said the government would not comment on the matter while it is before the courts.