Tag Archives: Minas Basin
Tidal power junk: N.S. village wants huge, abandoned moorings moved from fishing area
An unusual scene emerges every time the bay’s record-setting tides recede to reveal the hulks, along with massive chains that were supposed to be used as moorings for Occurrent Power’s experimental tidal turbine. The company, formerly BigMoon Power, was planning to move the anchors to a testing site on the other side of the Minas Basin. But last week, news broke that the company had filed for bankruptcy. That’s left locals wondering whether the company’s $20,000 deposit with the province will be enough to pay for a proper cleanup. Meanwhile, the boxcars disappear underwater every time the tide comes in, rising 21 feet in the harbour. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:22
Porter family fights for safe passage of fish in the Minas Basin
When Darren Porter knows the tide and water temperature are right for the gaspereau to make their run, he calls the Department of Agriculture staff person capable of opening the gates in the causeway across the Avon River. “If it’s convenient for them to listen to me they open them, if it’s not they don’t,” said the Hants County fisherman. “All I can do is make the call and hope the fish get a chance to fulfil their life cycle.” For Porter the battle for fish passage in the Avon River is already largely lost. >click to read< 11:17
Cape Sharp Turbine blamed for fish gouges in the Minas Basin
Fishermen have been finding sliced up or gouged gaspereaux and herring in their nets and fear the run of mackerel swimming up the bay is next. “I’m just starting to get some mackerel now,” Parrsboro fisherman Gerry Taylor said in an interview, adding there is also concern around the June herring run. “Then (Cape Sharp) will show up again and mess that up, too.” Cape Sharp, a company testing tidal power possibilities in the Bay of Fundy, has deployed several tugs and vessels in the Minas Basin to assist in the recovery of their turbine since mid-April, much to the frustration of fishermen who say the activity is disruptive to their season and their catches.,, Meanwhile, the turbine’s blades are still turning with the force of the tides, even though it has no power flowing to it. Fishermen are finding evidence of what they feared with the catches they’re getting in their nets: what’s being described as an unprecedented number of damaged fish —currently gaspereaux and herring — in the Minas Basin. Click here to read the story 11:21
Fundy fishermen lose bid to stop tidal turbine in Minas Basin
A group of Bay of Fundy fishermen have lost a bid to overturn the approval of a project in Nova Scotia’s Minas 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 from Yarmouth to the New Brunswick border, says it believes the tidal energy program will harm marine life. The first turbine was deployed in November. In particular, the group has accused the operators of the turbine of failing to produce “relevant baseline data,” or a snapshot of the environmental state of the Bay of Fundy before the turbine was deployed. On Monday, Justice Heather Robertson rejected the claims by the fishermen, saying “extraordinary efforts have been made to evaluate risk” in the 2009 environmental assessment of the turbine project. click here to read the story 15:37
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell rules against Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association
Bay of Fundy fishermen have failed in their bid to stop the deployment of electricity-generating in the Minas Basin near Parrsboro, N.S. In a ruling released today, Justice Jamie Campbell of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court said there is no evidence to suggest irreparable harm will be caused by putting the turbines in the water from now until next February. That’s when the court is scheduled to hear an appeal of the government’s decision to permit the deployment of the turbines. The Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association went to court last week to try to get an injunction to stop Cape Sharp Tidal Ventures from putting two test turbines in the water. Campbell said the fishermen have legitimate concerns. But the judge also noted there was nothing to suggest that having the turbines in the water for the next four months would have a lasting impact. Read the rest here 13:32
Bay of Fundy Fishermen want more studies before tidal turbines tested
The bounties of the Bay of Fundy have sustained us for over 400 years. The Upper Bay of Fundy is an important spawning, nursery and feeding ground for many fish, mammals, and invertebrate species. They include species-at-risk, such as white shark, striped bass, sturgeon and inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon, among others. The is the most important nursery for lobster larvae in Atlantic Canada and fulfills the same function for sea scallops, cod, haddock, gaspereau and many other commercially valuable species that exit the basin through Minas Passage, populating the entire Gulf of Maine. In 2014, $464 million worth of lobster were taken from the Bay of Fundy on Nova Scotia’s side alone. Landings and value were both up significantly in 2015. The three million pounds of allowable scallops fetched about $50 million. In excess of three-quarters of a billion dollars was extracted from Nova Scotia’s waters last year. And it will happen again this year, next year, and every year — truly a renewable resource. Read the Op-ed here 12:22
Bay of Fundy fishermen worried about fish stocks being destroyed by tidal turbine generators
Four companies are planning on placing test turbines at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy. FORCE has a facility on land near Parrsboro that manages and monitors four berths for turbines in the Minas Passage. Kevin Gidney of Digby Neck was one of 50 fishermen who attended an information meeting in Annapolis Royal May 15. “Everybody is scared to death,” says Gidney. “The Minas Basin is the number one spawning ground for the Bay of Fundy. After a lobster lays its eggs on bottom, the larva float around on the surface, drifting around the basin with the tide. Are they going to get beat up in the turbines?” “The only thing they (FORCE) are saying to the general public is these fish can avoid, may avoid, or our studies suggest they will avoid the turbines,” said Porter. “In the hundreds of years we’ve been fishing them, there’s never been a fish who learned to avoid a weir, or a gillnet. Read the story here 20:05
