Bayside celebrates 10th anniversary of private ownership
By CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
September 28, 2009
The Port of Bayside in the Passamaquoddy Bay area between Saint John and St. Stephen recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in private hands with the completion of a capital project to repave 10,000 square metres of its main wharf and laydown area. “The paving will contribute significantly to the overall safety of equipment operating on the wharf as well as make it much more attractive for existing as well as potential new users,” said Darrell Weare, chief operating officer of the Port of Bayside. “All users were very co-operative during the construction period, especially Bayside Food Terminal, Jamer Materials and Fundy Stevedoring.”
Mr. Weare said his board is extremely proud that the small port could carry out this project without any government assistance, but he is optimistic his port will be considered in a future round of projects approved for government funding. Mr. Weare noted that the port pays income tax at the high corporate rate, which has “slowed down the growth of the port.”
To commemorate the 10th anniversary, the port held its first Appreciation Day and hopes to hold one annually. In 1999, the federal government sold the Port of Bayside to the privately owned Bayside Port Corporation with chairman Fred Nicholson at the helm.
A 1913 study recommended a commercial seaport at Bayside and the original wharf was built in 1967 to handle tuna exports, which no longer move through the port.
Today, a privately owned frozen food storage facility employs 19 full- and part-time staff just off the wharf. Bayside Food Terminal offers frozen storage capacity of 7,000 tonnes and also has space for higher-temperature storage. The port sees about nine ships per year loaded with frozen filleted Alaskan pollock, while other cargoes include Canadian seed potatoes for Cuba. Local lobster and blueberries are also exported from the terminal.
Bayside handles about two ships per month carrying construction aggregate that Jamer Materials loads from the adjoining quarry at Champlain Industrial Park using a multi-conveyor/hopper system. Jamer provides 70 per cent of the revenue for Bayside Marine Terminal and is a locally managed joint venture owned by Vulcan Materials Company, the largest construction aggregate company in the United States, and CCC LLC, a family-owned U.S. company. The public and environmentalists often criticize Jamer for its activities in rural New Brunswick. But Bayside is one of the few designated ‘industrial park’ zones along the southwestern coast of New Brunswick and provides marine opportunities for economic development.
Bayside also handles dry cargoes including corrugating medium going to South America from Lake Utopia Paper Ltd., and lumber for U.S. markets from J.D. Irving, Limited. The port offers over 3,600 square metres of covered storage area.