Socio-Economic Benefits
Marystown best, most-logical location
Marystown, with a population of roughly five thousand, has a new industrial park, an offshore fabrication facility at nearby Cowhead, and the site of a former shipyard – now home to Marbase. Grieg NL is currently building an Atlantic salmon hatchery in the community and intends to make Marystown the centre of its aquaculture operations in Placentia Bay. Despite recent declines in population on the Burin Peninsula, the region still has a trained, experienced workforce, especially when it comes to the skilled trades, transportation, and equipment operation. (Grieg NL EIS) All of these factors combined to make Marystown the best, most-logical place to locate a service hub for this province’s aquaculture industry.
Over the last fifteen years, the only activity at the shipyard site has been environmental remediation and abatement work carried out for the provincial government in fulfilment of its environmental liability responsibilities as a past owner.
Breathing new life into the region
Once in operation, the Marbase aquaculture service hub will breathe new life into Marystown and the Burin Peninsula – and the lumpfish hatchery will be the heart of that activity.
During construction, the hatchery will provide employment for as many as 60 predominantly local people. Site activities will generally be carried out by contractors. Spinoff activities would include increased demand for vehicle fueling, vehicle servicing, hotel accommodations, and restaurant services.
20 direct jobs, plus 20-30 indirect
Once the hatchery is operating, it will provide jobs for 20 full-time staff and create 20-30 indirect jobs through contracted services. Marbase has labour agreements in place with two local unions. Hiring preference is first within the local unions, then the local community, followed by the Burin Peninsula, then the rest of the province, and beyond. Short-term employment might be required during loading and shipment of lumpfish. Specialist services, such as diving / ROV to monitor the saltwater pipeline, would be contracted out.
Lots of other local benefits
Local and provincial service and supply companies will benefit directly from the hatchery. There will also be direct and indirect economic benefits related to the supply of goods and services for Marbase management, employees, contractors, service providers, and others associated with the hatchery.
A team of experts drawn from within the province as well as internationally have been working together to design the systems for the hatchery. Once construction is given the go ahead, there will be further opportunities for local companies to participate in specific contracted tasks. At the same time, recruitment will begin for operations personnel, who will be on staff for the startup of the hatchery.