Ocean power projects raise salmon concerns

TACOMA, WASHINGTON - The quest for green energy is increasingly focused on ocean power such as tidal and wave generators. But some scientists are raising concerns about whether those projects could interfere with salmon and other species with sensitive internal compasses.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory oceanographer Andrea Copping tells The News Tribune of Tacoma that scientists believe salmon, like sharks and sea turtles, might sense the EarthÂ’s magnetic fields as they navigate back to their natal streams.

Some scientists worry that the power-generating devices and the cables that bring their electricity to shore can create electromagnetic fields that could interfere with the salmon.

CoppingÂ’s lab in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula is studying the reactions of salmon, dungeness crab, halibut and American lobsters when copper wiring near their tanks is energized.

A company has a license to move forward with a commercial-scale wave project off the Oregon coast, Copping added.

Wave generators off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and Northern California could eventually produce 50,000 megawatts of electricity, or roughly the output of 50 nuclear power plants, the Northwest Power Planning Council has estimated.

Copping said preliminary results from her labÂ’s experiments should be available in the coming weeks.