Sierra Club PRESS RELEASE - Fishermen/environmentalists Support

Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 15:25:25 -0400
To: Paul Falvo <pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca>
From: Elizabeth May <scc@magma.ca>
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fishery & Tourism, Protest Minister Dhaliwal
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 24, 2000

FISHERMEN DEMAND HELP FROM FISHERIES MINISTER HERB DHALIWAL-- "REVERSE OIL
AND GAS PERMIT !"

Cheticamp, Nova Scotia:

Federal minister of fisheries, the Honourable Herb Dhaliwal, will be met
by a chorus of protests today as he visits the Cape Breton fishing
community of Cheticamp.  A demonstration will take place in support of the
fishery and tourism industries, as he meets with fishermen in the area.

Last summer a permit was granted covering 600,000 acres of seabed, from
the western shoreline of Cape Breton towards Prince Edward Island in the
southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, to allow Corridor Resources exploration
rights for oil and gas.

"We are demanding that the Minister to exercise his legislated authority
to protect our sensitive fishing grounds from an oil industry grab, " said
Percy Hayne, chair of the Gulf of Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board.
"There's been no proper environmental assessment.  Just a decision by
unelected members of the Canada/Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board to
proceed before identifying what is at stake for the ecology and economy of
Nova Scotia and the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence."

Fishermen's organization have been joined by the Atlantic Policy Congress
of First Nations Chiefs representing all First Nations in the Maritimes,
as well as by environmental groups, tourism operators, the local clergy,
and other concerned citizens.  They have formed a coalition (Save Our Seas
and Shores)  to oppose the shoreline permits on both sides of Cape Breton
Island.

"It is essential that native and non-native fishers and communities unite
to protect our environment and our fishery," said Mi'kmaq spokesman
Allister Marshall.

"The Fisheries Resource Conservation Council has already recommended to
Minister Dhaliwal that no exploration activity be allowed in the entire
Gulf of St. Lawrence until independent study through a transparent process
is done to determine the short and long term negative effects of blasting
and drilling on sensitive fish stocks and the ecosystem,"  noted Elizabeth
May, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada. "The Minister must
face the fact that one federal law, the Canada/Nova Scotia Offshore
Petroleum Resources Accord, completely undercuts the Minister's
responsibility to protect marine biodiversity under the Oceans Act."

SOS Coalition spokesperson Mary Gorman summed up the fishermen's concerns,
"This is an inshore, coastal permit, totally different from what the
industry is dealing with on the Scotian shelf at Sable. This places an
annual billion dollar renewable fishing industry employing 20,000 people
in the southern Gulf of St.  Lawrence in serious jeopardy,"  she went on
to explain, "From our research, it is clear that even the exploration
phase with seismic air guns can kill and disturb fish and other marine
life, such as whales and migrating stocks that don't return.  The
'produced' (contaminated) waters from drilling is also toxic to fish."

Minister Herb Dhaliwal is in the region after meeting with Newfoundland
shrimp harvesters yesterday.  He agreed to meet with SOS representatives
following his scheduled meeting with the fishermen's roundtable.

Contact:
All spokespersons in this release will be available for comment by 5 p.m.
Monday at 235-2440.
On Monday a.m.:
Elizabeth May : 902-235-2584
Mary Gorman/Percy Hayne: 902-926-2128 or cel:(902)928-8558
Alastair Marshall:(902)535-2426



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The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes
mailing list (sust-mar).  http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar
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Sponsors: Chebucto Community Net   	http://www.chebucto.ns.ca 
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