Fundy fishermen lose bid to stop tidal turbine in Minas Basin

A group of Bay of Fundyfishermen have lost a bid to overturn theapproval of a tidal turbine projectin Nova Scotia'sMinas Basin.

In February,the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association argued in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that the province's environment minister granted approval of the project without enough environmental data.

The group, which represents 175 fishermen fromYarmouthto the New Brunswick border, says itbelievesthe tidal energy program will harm marine life. The first turbine was deployed in November.

In particular, the grouphas accused the operatorsof the turbineof failingto produce "relevant baseline data," or asnapshot of the environmental state of the Bay ofFundybefore the turbinewas deployed.

'Careful monitoring'

On Monday, Justice Heather Robertson rejected the claims by the fishermen, saying "extraordinary effortshave been made to evaluate risk" in the2009 environmental assessment of the turbine project.

"The regime of careful monitoring, study and reporting is in fact consistent with the cautionary principle and reflected in the careful rolling out of this demonstration project," she said in her ruling.

The turbine is owned by Cape Sharp Tidal Ventures, while the non-profitFundyOcean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) is managing the test site in theMinasPassage.

It is connected to the grid through a subsea cable. The company said in November it expected the turbine to eventually produce enough electricity to supply 1,000 homes.

• Giant turbine launches to harness powerful Fundy tides

Lawyers for the turbine owner and operator told the court in February that it wasimpossible to establish a baselinesnapshot of pre-turbine conditions in the Bay ofFundybecause the area changes with every tide.

Disappointed but not shocked

The Bay ofFundyInshore Fishermen's Association said it was disappointed to learn of the court's ruling, but not shocked.

The association said in a news release Mondaythe timing of the release of the decision is "highly suspect."

"The coincidence of its delivery the very day after proponents at theFundyOcean Research Centre for Energy announced they would be removing their turbine for the unscheduled maintenance on systems responsible for transmission of environmental monitoring data, and the day after delivery to the public of that data, is too much for our members to accept."

• Cape Sharp Tidal turbine coming out for equipment upgrades

Association spokespersonColinSproulsaid in the release the court accepted "industry controlled junk science as the truth."

The association said it remains "firmly opposed to the current state of tidal development in the bay."

'Project has not been undertaken lightly'

The provincial Environment Department also defended its decision to approve the tidal power demonstration project.

Robertson said the test turbine isnecessary to "understand the risk and environmental impacts" of tidal energy.

"The fact is this is a demonstration project to explore tidal power electrical generation in a climate of significant public interest in diminishing our province's dependence on fossil fuels. The project has not been undertaken lightly and follows rigorous ongoing evaluation," she said in her decision.