Fishers in eastern Nova Scotia have grave concerns about plan for whale sanctuary

The site for a proposed whale sanctuary is seen in an area south of Port Hilford, N.S., in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Whale Sanctuary Project

HALIFAX — A group representing about 140 commercial fishing ventures on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore says it has “grave concerns” about a plan to build North America’s first coastal refuge for whales retired from marine theme parks.

Ginny Boudreau, manager of the Guysborough County Inshore Fishermen’s Association, said the group hasn’t spoken out before about the Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP) because members never thought it would become a reality.

But that changed in October when the Nova Scotia government granted the project’s organizers a 20-year lease for 83 hectares of Crown lands and coastal waters near Wine Harbour, N.S., in eastern Nova Scotia. Proponents are pushing to have large, floating pen ready by this summer but construction has yet to begin.

“We could not really conceive that the federal or provincial governments would permit this,” Boudreau said in an interview last week. “We should have never gotten to this point but we’re here now.”

Federal officials have yet to grant approval for the project.

The association’s members typically own inshore fishing boats used to catch a wide variety of species including lobster, crab, herring, mackerel and clams. A typical boat has a crew of four.

Meanwhile, Boudreau said the fishers are worried about being denied access to the bay where there are plans to eventually build a 40-hectare enclosure that would be anchored to the sea floor of a bay known as Indian Harbour.

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Boudreau said here are 72 lobster fishers in the association who have licences for Lobster Fishing Area 31B, which includes that bay. He said the season opens April 9.

As for the floating pen, WSP says it will eventually be large enough to hold eight to ten belugas, though organizers have said they are focusing on importing two captive orcas from Marineland Antibes in the south of France.

On another front, Boudreau said local fishers are worried that whales imported from afar might spread disease and parasites among the local population of marine mammals. And she said some fishers are worried non-resident whales will attract migrating whales, increasing the risk of nearshore entanglements in fishing gear.

“If they’re going to attract more marine mammal species to that area, then that increases the risk for interaction,” Boudreau said.

“If these animals do have parasites … that’s an unknown. We have no idea how that marine environment is going to respond to the introduction of marine mammals that have never been there before, and have been in captivity for many years.”

A spokesperson for the Whale Sanctuary Project could not be immediately reached for comment. But the project’s proponents have responded to similar concerns in the past.

In October, WSP posted a statement online saying that since the project was announced in 2020, the U.S.-based non-profit has conducted environmental site assessments, biodiversity surveys and weather and acoustic monitoring.

And in 2024, independent consultants concluded that the site at Indian Harbour represents a healthy, long-term habitat for future whale residents. As well, they determined the bay’s water column is clean, WSP says.

“The legal and regulatory requirements that span federal, provincial, local and (Indigenous) agencies and include … risk management plans and (ocean floor) impact reports have been submitted to the appropriate agencies,” WSP’s October statement says.

In January 2025, the WSP followed up by citing “analyses and expert recommendations” that concluded the sanctuary site “poses negligible risks to future whale residents and the whales, in turn, will pose no risk to their new environment and the many species who call it home.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2026.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press