ATLANTIC

Former P.E.I. lobster plant to reopen as cold storage, bioscience centre

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, December 3, 2014 12:44PM AST

Lobster fishermen load traps onto their boats at Jude's Point Wharf in Tignish, P.E.I. Saturday, April 30, 2011. (Nathan Rochford / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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SOURIS, P.E.I. - A former P.E.I. lobster plant that closed more than three years ago will be redeveloped.

The provincial government says it will help Souris Harbour Authority Inc. buy the facility with a $2-million loan from Finance PEI and a $150,000 grant through the Island Community Fund.

The former Ocean Choice International plant will reopen as a cold storage, bioscience and seafood processing facility by next summer.

The harbour authority is a non-profit corporation that owns, operates and promotes the development of the Port of Souris.

The province announced Tuesday that it reached an out-of-court settlement to recover $1.5 million from a loan given to Ocean Choice.

The provincial government launched a lawsuit in June 2011 in a bid to recover $9.75 million of an unsecured loan that was still outstanding when the plant closed.