Chinese company First Catch builds advanced lobster storage at Halifax airport

If ever there was proof lobster is king of Nova Scotia seafood, it's the new $36-million freight facility at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

The Air Cargo Logistics Park that opened earlier this month is a big bet that will continue. It's doubling cold storage capacity and adding apron space to park five 747-sized cargo planes.

"It increases the efficiency, the capacity and the ability to actually move and export more product from Nova Scotia," said Marie Manning, Halifax International Airport Authority's business development manager.

"That benefits not only the airport, but certainly all of our stakeholders, the industry and the region itself. The economic impact is significant."

Seafood accounts for 91 per cent of exports from the airport — most of it live lobster.

Last year, 12,757 tonnes of live lobster worth $293 million was flown out of Halifax.

An anchor tenant in the new logistics park is First Catch, a Chinese company that came to Nova Scotia six years ago and is here for the long haul.

"We have a 25-year lease in the building," First Catch vice-president Lister Li told CBC News. "We want to work here in Halifax to make sure all our lobster has the best quality."

The company spent $9 million on its facilities at the Logistics Park, including a new cold storage room to hold shipments packed for flight.

The highlight is the so-called lobster shower.

It will allow First Catch to store about 40 tonnes of live lobster for extended periods, reducing mortality in case of flight delays or cancelled orders.

"We are trying to solve problems," said Li.

The industry reckons it has about 60 hours to get a live lobster from the water to its final destination or it must go into storage or be cooked.

At First Catch, live lobster can be unloaded and kept alive in plastic tubs under a cascade of water in a closed-circulation system which is the first of its kind in a Canadian airport.