Bay of Fundy inshore fishermen want court to overturn tidal turbine approval

The Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association wants Nova Scotia's top court to overturn the province's approval of a plan to deploy two experimental tidal turbines in the Minas Passage.

The association, which represents 175 fishermen from Yarmouth to the New Brunswick border, filed an application for a judicial review in Nova Scotia's Supreme Court July 22.

It says Environment Minister Margaret Miller "erred in law and acted unreasonably" by authorizing Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy'sand Cape Sharp Tidal'smonitoring program last month.

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Calls for more research

Colin Sproul, who speaks for the fishermen'sassociation, says there isn't enough baseline science to ensure the project won't hurt the environment and the fishing industry.

"The risk is, if these effects are underestimated or not observed at all, that that will allow the full-scale installation of the proponent's plan for the Bay of Fundy and that the environmental effects will be dramatic," he said.

Sproul says Miller overlooked a "wealth of information" from Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

"This industry is being allowed to regulate itself and now the onus is being placed on fishermen to bring some kind of responsibility and transparency to it," he said.

Worried about whales, wildlife

The application includes concerns that the monitoring program doesn't account for the cumulative effects of installing and activating the turbines. They are each 16 metres in diameter and weigh 1,000 tonnes.

The turbineswere originally scheduled for deployment last year, but were delayed by weather.

The applicationsays the minister's decision could destroy critical wildlife habitat. Sproul says whales pass through the area and more information is needed about how the project could affect them.

"Even if they aren't chopped to bits by the turbines they will be driven from the site because of that extreme acoustic disturbance."

A spokeswoman for Cape Sharp Tidal says the company doesn't comment on legal matters.

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