Chinese owners vow to rebuild Eastern Passage lobster plant

The Chinese owners of the Capital Seafoods plant in Eastern Passage, N.S., say they will repair and rebuild the lobster processing facility damaged in a spectacular fire Wednesday night.

"We will carry on. We will be better and stronger, I'm sure," company manager Jack Liu said Thursday.

The fire destroyed the company's lobster processing facility, he said, but did not affect the live shipment area, which will continue to operate.

Liu spoke to CBC News minutes after touching down at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, en route to the plant to check out the damage first hand.

"First and foremost nobody was hurt. That's important," Liu said.

"Business-wise we are going to carry on. Our commitment to the investment in Nova Scotia, our commitment to local community and to local fishermen has not changed a bit."

Capital Seafoods is a subsidiary of Zoneco, a Chinese seafood company. In October 2014, the company formally announced it would take over the plant in Eastern Passage and turn it into a year-round operation.

Capital was the first Chinese company to jump into the lobster business. Others have followed.

So far in 2016, Capital has shipped nearly three million pounds of live lobster to China from Nova Scotia, most of it through the Eastern Passage plant.

Liu said the cause of the fire is still unknown and under investigation.

"The lobster tanks is not affected at all. Luckily, we can carry on our live operations," he said.

That's good news for the fishermen who sell to Capital Seafoods.

On the down side the fire destroyed large amounts of bait stored at the facility for traps intended for the upcoming lobster season.

"Myself, I had 14,000, 15,000 pounds in there," lobster fisherman Tom Henneberry said. "It's terrible. A week before the season, a lot of fishermen put bait in there yesterday and the day before."