Questions abound on Georges Bank exploration moratorium

Will the Georges Bank moratorium on oil and gas exploration be extended or lifted, or will a full review be required before that question can be answered is something the Nova Scotia Department of Energy is just starting to work on.

“We’re just starting to put a research study together,” said Matt Lumley, communications officer with the department. “The main question is can the fishery and offshore exploration exist side by side?”

According to legislation governing the current moratorium, which is in effect until Dec. 31, 2012, the provincial and federal governments have until June 1, 2010 to decided whether another panel review process is warranted before a decision is made on the status of the moratorium.

“The most important deadline is Dec. 31, 2012,” said Lumley. “That’s the last day to make a decision and it’s going to come fast.”

Pointing out the 1999 panel review was actually started in 1995, “We’re still four years out and it’s time to get going,” said Lumley.

Opponents to oil and gas exploration on Georges Bank are also not waiting for deadlines to come and go.

Formally announced last week, the Norigs 3 coalition is made up of fishermen, processors, aboriginal groups and environmentalists. Denny Morrow, executive director of the Nova Scotia Fish Packers Association, is the coalition’s volunteer chairman.

Speaking on behalf of Norigs 3, Morrow said the federal and provincial ministers of fisheries, the environment and energy should use the 1999 panel report as a starting point to decide if the risks and recommendations outlined in the report should be re-examined, or whether the moratorium should be extended for another 10 year period.

If the ministers decide there have been significant changes, they should initiate another impartial review patterned after the process during the late 1990’s, said Morrow.

From Norigs 3 point of view, probably the most “significant change” is the fact that the haddock stocks on Georges Bank have rebounded from an all time low in the early 1990s to a 50 year high, said Morrow.

While the fishing industry in general is facing the same problems as other manufacturers, such as high petroleum prices and a soft U.S. economy, the fisheries is still the economic backbone of southwestern Nova Scotia.

“The lobster fishery is steady. Groundfish on Georges is at a 50 year high. There’s good scallop stocks and good landings for swordfish and tuna,” said Morrow.

If the moratorium was lifted and petroleum resources found on Georges Bank, “It won’t help the people of Nova Scotia heat their homes, or fill up their cars, boats or trucks with gas,” said Morrow, and it’s unlikely many jobs would be created.

“I don’t understand where all these jobs are going to come from,” said Morrow. “Look at Guysborough. Eight years later and there’s not even a handful of jobs and they had a pipeline come ashore. Guysborough didn’t turn into Fort McMurray.”

If offshore exploration and production ever did become a reality on Georges Bank, it’s very unlikely a pipeline would come ashore in southwestern Nova Scotia, said Morrow, because the market and the population base just isn’t here. Rather it would go the other way to Boston where the major markets are.