Prince Edward Island to become first province to ban plastic bags
The third reading of the bill to ban single-use plastic bags has passed in the Prince Edward Island legislature. Once the law gets final approval — it just needs royal assent to become law — the province will be the first in Canada to outlaw plastic shopping bags. Implementation of the prohibited plastic will be gradual, starting with a 15-cent fee for bags on July 1, 2018, rising to 25 cents in 2019 and by 2020, companies using bags will be fined.

Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship opens in Halifax
Halifax is now home to the world’s first ocean tech incubator. Donning the appropriate acronym COVE, the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship is the only tech hub in the world focusing on developing ocean technology startups. With collaborative spaces, marine services and machine shops, COVE will help companies innovate with direct ocean access. The first residents will be Kraken Robotics, with at least 40 more companies expected to work out of COVE starting in July.

Beer-to-beer: Moosehead launches small batch brewery in Saint John
Moosehead turned on the taps of their new small batch brewery on Saturday, June 9. The 150-year old brewery is getting on trend with a tap room that will pour up small batch beers at their West Side brewery facilities, complete with a semi-automatic growler system. With the meteoric rise of craft beer appreciation on the East Coast, Moosehead decided to enter the ring with a range of beers and a full experience. Tours of the facility will now also include a peek at the 20-barrel brewing system pumping out lagers, IPAs and October Brown Ale, the first beer the company brewed in 1867.

Still no announcement for Newfoundland recreational fishery
The expected announcement date for the Newfoundland recreational groundfish season is still unknown. Typically, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans makes the announcement around May 20, but despite indicating the confirmations of dates early June, the silence is starting to worry some tour operators. Many tours in the province offer recreational fishing options during the summer season and hope they won’t miss out on these opportunities. The rest of the Atlantic provinces have set the date: New Brunswick’s fishery will run from July 7 to August 12 while both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will fish from July 20 to September 3.

Four Atlantic provinces top unemployment in May
With the national unemployment rate hitting 5.8 per cent in May 2018, the four Atlantic provinces sit at the top of the list for the highest rates in the country. Newfoundland and Labrador almost triple the national average by maintaining 14.5 per cent month over month while Prince Edward Island dropped from 11.2 per cent in April to 9.3 per cent. Nova Scotia unemployment rose from 6.7 per cent to 7.2 per cent and New Brunswick rounded out the Atlantic provinces with a drop from 8.0 per cent to 7.3.

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