Fish, oil rigs can coexist, energy minister says

Nova Scotia's minister of energy insists he's not "crazy" for reopening a once bitter debate about oil and gas development on Georges Bank, one of the richest fishing grounds in the region.

Richard Hurlburt told members of the oil and gas industry Tuesday in Halifax he supports exploration in the area off southwest Nova Scotia, where development is banned.

"People ask me if I was crazy, why I was taking this challenge on," said Hurlburt, the MLA for Yarmouth.

"I do not believe I'm crazy. I believe I'm doing the job that Nova Scotians elected me to do, Yarmouthians elected me to do, and the premier has asked me to do."

The federal moratorium on petroleum exploration and development on Georges Bank was put in place in 1988 because of fears of accidents and oil spills. The ban was extended eight years ago andwill expire in 2012.

But times have changed since the moratorium was introduced, Hurlburt said, and the fishing industry is now struggling.

"Southwest Nova needs a new industry," he said. "The findings that they have today show there are reserves out there. It belongs to Nova Scotians, so why shouldn't we explore it if we can do it in an environmentally safe manner, which I believe we can."

Gas from the Sable project is pumping $400 million a year into the provincial treasury. However, it has been more than three years since the last exploration well was drilled off Nova Scotia.

Works in Norway

If fish and oil can coexist in Norway, Hurlburt said, it could work here.

"I'm not saying we should put an oil rig on Georges tomorrow, but I am saying is that we have to get the fishing community and the offshore gas and oil companies working collectively together. I do not want to see a repeat of 1988," he said.

Hurlburt first brought up the idea of lifting the ban last weekend when Progressive Conservatives met for theirannual general meeting in Halifax.

He may get a boost from fishermen in his region who once supported the moratorium.

Hubert Saulnier, president of the Maritime Fishermen's Union in southwest Nova Scotia, told CBC News on Monday it was time to take another look at theban as opportunities for fishermendecline.

The Ecology Action Centre said oil and gas development could pose a risk to the fish and marine life on Georges Bank, noting there have been three major oil spills in the last three years in Atlantic Canada.