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MEDIA RELEASE Contact: JJ Bear - Communications, APC - 902-667-4007 John G. Paul - Executive Director, APC - 902-667-4007 Jeff Brownstein - President, Local 6 MFU - 902-929-2757 Mike Belliveau - Executive Secretary, MFU - 506-532-2485 Amherst, NS - July 25, 2000 The Atlantic Policy Congress (APC) of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat Inc. and the Maritime Fishermenís Union (MFU) wish to make a joint statement regarding the desire of Hunt Oil, of Texas, to perform seismic testing this fall in the waters of Sydney Bight, specifically in the waters off Port Morien to Cape Smokey, without completing an extensive environmental assessment prior to exploring. The APC Chiefs, in Resolution #47/99, demanded that two similar exploration surveys be stopped in the Port Hood to Cheticamp area last December, where a lease is held by Corridor Resources. Now, the Canada/Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum board has chosen to by-pass the environmental assessment process regarding oil and gas exploration off its shores, and plan to issue these permits. ìThese exploration permits will have major impacts on the eco-systems in those areas,î said Chief Lawrence Paul, Co-chair of APC, ìand may damage or destroy many of the fish stocks that are there.î ìWe are concerned about the lack of both the Federal and Provincial governments regulations to protect these inshore areas,î said Chief Second Peter Barlow, Co-chair of APC. ìThe precedent they are setting by issuing these permits without conducting environmental assessments are endangering the marine life and the communities reliant on those resources.î ìThe commercial fishery in Sydney Bight is worth more now than it ever was and remains the backbone of the economy of coastal Cape Breton,î said Jeff Brownstein, President of Local 6, Maritime Fishermenís Union. ìOur groundfish stocks show signs of rebuilding, our crab stocks are booming and we have put into place conservation measures to improve our lobster fishery by doubling egg production. It is absolutely criminal to consider seismic exploration which could kill shellfish and fish eggs and larvae as well as disrupt their migration patterns.î The Atlantic Chiefs and the Maritime Fishermenís Union are demanding that Minister Dahliwal put a halt to the issuance of these permits and live up to his responsibilities laid out in the legislation regarding protecting the habitat. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on Sustainable Maritimes (sust-mar) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Questions about sust-mar? Problems? Email <sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> Please remember to UNSUBSCRIBE if your email account is changing, or if you are going away. To leave the list, just send email to <majordomo@chebucto.ns.ca> As the text of your message, type only "unsubscribe sust-mar" (without quotes)
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