A conservation group is calling on P.E.I. Energy Minister Wes Sheridan to declare an immediate moratorium on exploration and drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

This comes in advance of the Energy and Mines Ministers Conference beginning Sunday in Charlottetown.

The group, Save our Seas and Shores Coalition, is also organizing a protest that they are calling a "quiet walk" near the meeting. Ellie Reddin is a member of the coalition.

"The concern is the potential effects of any spill on fisheries, on tourism throughout the Gulf," says Reddin. "The Gulf of St. Lawrence is 6.5 times smaller than the Gulf of Mexico and we all know how devastating the oil spill was in that gulf a couple of years ago."

Last month, the Green Party of Canada called for a moratorium on exploration and drilling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the face of a proposed deep-water oil well.

Corridor Resources Inc. is looking for approval from the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to drill a well east of Prince Edward Island by 2015.

The annual conference will be held from Sept. 9-11 in Charlottetown.