Nova Scotia shoreline clean-up group says grant cut sends wrong message – Halifax

The Nova Scotia government’s decision to cut the entire grant for its Marine Debris Clean-Up Program has some questioning the province’s priorities considering the size and importance of its fisheries industry.

The cut is part of the province’s contentious budget that aimed to cut more than $300 million to departments, grants and programming.

For Angela Riley, founder of the non-profit group Scotian Shores, it’s a decision that makes no sense.

“I’d love to say it’s getting better, but I can’t say that it is. It’s really bad,” Riley said, when asked about the state of debris along Nova Scotia’s shorelines.

“Nova Scotian fisheries and aquaculture — biggest maker of money, least amount of budget. And now (the province is) not doing, in my opinion, very much to help with the clean-ups that are needing to happen.”

Riley launched Scotian Shores back in 2020 in response to the growing problem of garbage and discarded fishing gear that was washing up on the shores.

Since then, she and volunteers have picked up some 1.8 million pounds of garbage. Over the years, Riley says she’s noticed the amount of microplastics and debris from the fishing industry, especially lobster bands, has only grown.

While the non-profit group only accessed about $2,000 a year of the $20,000 grant, Riley says the funding cut still hampers the scale of clean-ups the organization is capable of organizing.

It also sends the wrong message.

“(Cleaning up) shouldn’t be completely up to volunteers when seafood industry is our biggest industry in Nova Scotia,” she said.

Krista Gallagher, the NDP’s fisheries and aquaculture critic, echoed Riley’s concerns during question period at the Legislature last week.

“Now the program is warning that these cuts could mean fewer clean-ups, less people doing the work, and more garbage cluttering our beaches. The founder said these cuts make it feel like cleaning up our shorelines isn’t a priority,” Gallagher said on April 2.

In response, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith said hard decisions had to be made in the budget, but that the province was hoping to combat the issue of debris through regulation.

“We’ve upped the regulations on our buying and processing of seafood, and we’ve also strengthened the regulations in aquaculture to make sure that our operators are not polluting our pristine coastline,” he said.

While Riley says the prevention of littering is important, so is the massive task of cleaning up what’s already there.

“If you come along with me, I’ll show you some stuff. We cleaned up 2,000 pounds from a cove yesterday that we’ve cleaned at least five times. Like it’s crazy the amount of garbage that washes ashore,” she said.

“We do need the support.”

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