Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA ities involved.Historically,we would ship off the raw product and be done with it.Now,we’re looking for ways to value add to it–we’ve come a long way in that regard, but there are obvious- lymore gains to be made. “We have seven commercial fishing wharves that have some supply chain clusters with the seafood industry.Where our landings come ashore, there are primary processing facilities and, in some places, advanced processing with private-label packaging and shelf-ready prod- ucts leaving.With respect to farming,we have organic farming, small-scale commercial farm- ing, and large-scale commercial farming. So, within that sector there’s a range of value-added processing happening.Our agricultural products include blueberries, apples,maple syrup, straw- berries, honey, beef, and poultry that are export- ed globally.” Anthony: “Over the last fewyears, the wine industry in Nova Scotia has really taken off, and three to five minutes inland,we have a micro-cli- mate where conditions are ideal for growing grapes.That’s fortunate. Six years ago,we did a climate data survey; collected information on frost-free days, sunny days, etc.within south- west Nova Scotia.As a result, it came out that this area is one of the better places for growing grapes and berries because we have more frost- free days than other parts of the province.The Bay of Fundy–a natural wonder–keeps us at a constant temperature; not too hot, not too cold.” BVM: What investments has the Municipality made in infrastructure projects? Brooks: “From a tourism and marketability prospect, our icon is the Cape Forchu lighthouse. That lighthouse was divested 20 years ago by the federal government, and the Municipality has invested heavily in remediation of the site, but also to turn it into a functioning tourist destination. In the last five years,we’ve invest- ed about $600,000 in the project, including building a complete walking trail around the property that’s usable in every season.We have a non-profit operating the site and a for-profit op- erating the food service aspect. Recently, a major motion picture “The Lighthouse”was filmed there with Robert Pattison andWillem Dafoe. That is great PR for the region, as it will be seen around the world. “This Council invests fairly heavily in trail and AT A GLANCE MUNICIPALITY OF THE DISTRICT OF YARMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA WHAT: Municipal district; population 9600 WHERE: Yarmouth County, southern Nova Scotia WEBSITE: www.district.yarmouth.ns.ca