Nova Scotia should move forward with tidal energy development but should make sure it has as little impact on the environment as possible.

That was the main recommendation in a strategic environmental assessment conducted for the province by the Offshore Energy Environmental Research Association that was delivered to Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt last week.

The report, commissioned a year ago, lists 29 recommendations the association believes the province should follow in developing tidal power. It calls on the province to adopt 10 sustainability principles as a guide to tidal development and as part of any policy or legislation on tidal development.

Those principles include keeping any marine renewable energy resource under public control and management and ensure that any development would lead to a net reduction in Nova Scotia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The report also says Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ottawa should collaborate in managing tidal power to protect the Bay of Fundy ecosystem.

As well, commercial tidal power projects should only go ahead when "a proponent can demonstrate that there will be no significant adverse effects on the fundamental hydrodynamic process of the Bay of Fundy . . . or on biological processes and resources," it says.

Until the short- and long-term effects of tidal power are well understood and accepted, the report recommends that any development should "take place incrementally, supported by an effective and transparent research and monitoring program." The installations should be removable and thresholds should be "established to indicate when removal would be required."

The association also recommends that attempts should be made to avoid or minimize a tidal project’s effect on the fishery, including aquaculture, and says a compensation plan should be in place in case the fishery is harmed by any project...

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1054332.html