The St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. (SABRI) mussel processing plant in Newfoundland, Canada has closed its doors as of 3 August, and is unlikely to open again in 2018, according to a report from the Northern Pen.
The Saint Lunaire-Griquet, Newfoundland-based plant had been on the lookout for a buyer since cuts to shrimp allocation earlier this year troubled SABRI’s revenues, and made continued operation of the facility a financially unfeasible option for the company.
Although interest has been expressed in purchasing the plant, which has been in operation for 15 years, no deals came through before the last batch of mussels passed through the processor on Thursday, 3 August. The plant is expected to close permanently, with its three employees charged with removing the mussel-growing operation from the water.
Once the equipment is removed from the water, it will be difficult for another mussel operation to thrive – at least for a while, according to one of the plant’s longtime employees Keith Pilgrim.
“We got mussels out there now, next year they’re going to be ready and the next year after,” Pilgrim told the Northern Pen. “But, once we takes up all that product, cleans the water, that’s it for the farm. No one else is going to take it over then.”
It would be roughly four years before mussel yields would be sufficient to sell after uprooting the current operation, said Pilgrim.
“You’re not going to buy this mussel farm and wait for four years for anything to be ready for market,” Pilgrim explained. “You wants deep pockets, and it’s not going to be worth it.”
