By Andy Walker
FOR THE SOU’WESTER
While she understands the concerns of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association about oil exploration in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail She has stopped short of a promise to implement a moratorium on future drilling.
Corridor Resources is currently exploring the Old Harry prospect, located between the Magdalene Islands and Cape Anguille. Association president Mike McGeoghegan wrote the minister this summer asking for a moratorium on future drilling.
“In light of the events in the Gulf of Mexico, serious preventative action needs to be taken in order to avert a similar occurrence in the ecologically sensitive Gulf of St Lawrence,” he told Shea. “The economic stability of Atlantic Canada is dependent on the fishery, and the fishery would be decimated if a similar disaster were to happen in this region.”
Shea said the environmental regulations are very different in Canada than south of the border, adding all applications would have to be considered on a case- by- case basis. The province’s representative at the cabinet table added “right now, I am not aware of any applications for exploration in the Gulf of St Lawrence.”
While the exploration work is currently in the Laurentian Channel, McGeoghegan maintains the entire Gulf of St Lawrence should be off limits to exploration.
The cabinet minister said she agrees the concerns of the fishery should be considered before any exploration permits are approved. She added “we need to ensure the fishery is involved and consulted before any drilling happens.”
