Increased oil tanker traffic will impact fisheries

Saint John — The Conservation Council’s Fundy Baykeeper  Matt Abbott was quoted in a CBC article published on August 12, 2016 on the expected increase in tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy if the National Energy Board approves Energy East pipeline project.

During the NEB panel sessions held in Saint John earlier that week, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick asked the regulatory board to explain how they plan to deal with the increased tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy should the Energy East pipeline project be approved.

“There’s a whole area where, you know, fishermen will be losing traps, fishermen will be coming into conflict with tankers,” said the Marine Conservation Director for the Conservation Council and one of the speaker presenting at the National Energy Board (NEB) panel sessions on the Energy East pipeline.

It would be “pretty shocking” if the question of increased marine traffic in the Bay of Fundy was outside of the scope of the hearings into the Energy East pipeline project, he added.

Many of the additional ships expected to visit the marine terminal should the Energy East pipeline be approved would be supertankers capable of carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil and tar sands.

The Conservation Council argues that the increased tanker traffic would not only increase the threat of oil spills in the Bay of Fundy and vessel collisions, but also interfere with fishing groups in the region.

Read the full story here.

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For more information on how the proposed Energy East pipeline would affect the Bay of Fundy , read the National Resource Defense Council’s report on tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy: Sensitive Marine Ecosystems Threatened by Energy East’s ‘Aquatic Pipeline’.

Learn more about how tanker traffic is already affecting right whales in the Bay of Fundy, here.

Watch a magnificent Humpback whale breaching in the Bay of Fundy here: Humpback Fundy.

Wondering what the alternatives are to the Energy East pipeline? Read CCNB’s bold, made-in-New Brunswick plan to address climate change here: Climate Action Plan.

 

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