The chair of the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission was floored by a recent economic impact study on the Port of Yarmouth.
Guy Surette says the board couldn’t believe that the area generates $50 million a year for the local economy.
“We said wow, in our little corner of the province, that much? It was a huge surprise to us,” said Surette.
The port also accounted for $25 million of Nova Scotia’s fishing GDP over the last five years.
The economic impact study says between 44 and 85 million pounds of lobsters are landed per year, as well as other species of fish.
Surette says he hopes this is a stepping stone for much needed infrastructure upgrades.
He says the survey gives them numbers to present to potential funding partners.
“Now we can say to the government, here’s the reason we need this. It’s huge for our local economy, it helps the grocery store, vehicle sales, you name it. The numbers give us that.”
Surette says a new board with councillors and stakeholders is being developed to run the Port of Yarmouth.
