The Coldest Coast-Marine Issues in the North

Though called different things, principles of conservation and sustainable development of the marine environment have been the basis for decision-making in Canada's North since aboriginal peoples settled there. The present discussion focuses on recent efforts to bring these principles into effect nationally and internationally.

The summer/fall 1994 edition of Northern Perspectives laid out the policy developments from the early 1970s in great detail. In brief, however, it is fair to say that a number of excellent policy statements, including the Canadian Arctic Marine Conservation Strategy, produced by DFO in 1987; DFO's promise to produce a discussion paper on a Canada Oceans Act by 1991; and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs' Arctic Environmental Strategy produced in 1991, have failed to gain the public attention and political will necessary for full implementation. Two notable exceptions have been the conclusion of the Inuvialuit and Nunavut Land (and sea) Claims Agreements, which establish powerful and potentially effective co-operative structures for making decisions affecting land and sea areas within (and in the case of the Nunavut Final Agreement, adjacent to) the settlement areas.

Four key events occurred in 1994, however, to advance significantly the national debate on marine conservation.

• Firstly, The National Advisory Board on Science and Technology (NABST), which reports directly to the prime minister, released its report on Oceans and Coasts. Three years in the making, the report recom- mended a number of things, including a comprehen- sive marine environment protection system, to safeguard Canada's oceans for future generations' health, enjoyment, and economic welfare.
• Second, Parks Canada released its revised "Guiding Principles and Operational Policies," which includes a section on establishing Marine Conservation Areas.
• Third, the Canada Wildlife Act was amended to allow the establishment of wildlife areas out to 200 nautical miles (n.m.).
• Finally, DFO released "A Vision for Ocean Manage- ment," which outlines the essentials of a new ocean management strategy for Canada.

The revised guidelines from Parks Canada are particularly significant in that they recognize the need to design marine conservation areas to accommodate varying levels of human activity within them. This is particularly important in the North, where individuals rely heavily on fish and marine mammals for food. The result is that effective conservation measures can be set up to protect ecosystems without impinging on traditional rights.

Equally, the amendments to the Canada Wildlife Act are significant in that they allow much larger marine wildlife areas to be established. While primarily designed for the protection of seabird habitat, wildlife areas can be an effective means to protect marine mammals and the habitat upon which they depend for survival. This kind of protection is being sought by the community of Clyde River for the bowhead whale -- a protection which, it is hoped, will allow the bowhead population to reach levels that can again support a traditional hunt.

Perhaps most importantly, DFO, in releasing its "Vision," recommitted itself to the creation of a Canada Oceans Act, which will lay the groundwork for conservation and protection of Canada's marine environments.

Among other things, the new act will authorize the federal government to work with other governments and individuals to establish an "Integrated Management Regime." It will allow the government to monitor, preserve, restore, and enhance ocean quality and it will require the federal government to work with other governments and individuals to develop an integrated coastal and ocean management plan (or plans) to resolve use conflicts.

The last component is particularly important, given that many marine problems for which the federal government is responsible have their roots far inland, under provincial, municipal, and aboriginal government jurisdiction. In intent, therefore, the act, which could reach first reading by this summer, and the subsequent strategy development process which it enables hold a great deal of promise for marine conservation. CARC's goal is to see that the promise is kept (see box), both to the nation and to the North.

Throughout our history, ocean policy has been created on an ad hoc basis, responding to issues rather than planning for them... Now is the time for Canada to break from the reactive approaches...of the past and take an innovatives proactive step. There is a need for a comprehensive policy strategy to manage and protect the marine environment.
- NABST Committee on Oceans and Coasts

If federal efforts to revise the nation' s marine policy are to meet the needs of the most northerly ocean and the people who depend on it for survival, three major shortcomings must be addressed. These are

• a poor understanding of the marine management regimes set up under the Inuvialuit and Nunavut final agreements among policy-makers in the South;
• insufficient basic ecosystem research, the absence of which seriously hampers sustainable use decision- making; and
• insufficient federal attention to building international agreements to curb release of toxic pollutants that contaminate the arctic food web.

1. Land-claims agreements

   So as not to compromise the ability to meet future needs, the Inuvialuit and Nunavut agreements require that marine management decisions affecting Inuit lands and adjacent waters be made in consultation with the Inuit. As Bruce Gillies of NTI points out, however, simple ignorance of these requirements can mean that the Inuit are not involved in decision-making that affects them.

2. Insufficient research

   Basic ecosystem research can help to determine the kinds of harvesting and use the ecosystem can sustain without suffering irreversible damage. Very little of this kind of work is currently being done throughout the country, and almost none is being done in the North. This absence of information seriously hampers efforts to make decisions in support of sustainable use.

3. International co-operation

   Most immediate threats to the arctic marine environment are beyond Canada's control. Like foreign overfishing on the Grand Banks, pollution problems in the North stem largely from other couniries in which unregulated industrial activity releases toxic waste products that are carried by wind and water to the Canadian Arctic. Without co-ordinated international action and agreement to curtail pollution, the domestic problem will, at best, simply not improve.

   Insufficient international co-operation compromises the ability to conserve the arctic marine environment in a second way: it prevents the ecosystem from being managed as a whole. The cumulative effect of unco-ordinated decision-making could mean inadvertently exceeding sustainable harvest and development limits. The recent establishment by the eight circumpolar nations of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy has improved co-operation significantly.

   Participants at the northern workshops conducted as part of the CARC/CNF National Marine Conservation Strategy Programme (see box, above) suggested a number of ways to address these problems. Their suggestions included innovative ways to combine western science and traditional ecological knowledge, developing a northern research lab, and establishing an Arctic Council of heads of state from the eight circumpolar nations. Equally, the northern workshops revealed that northern co-operative decision-making may be a useful model for reducing conflicts in Canada' s more southerly oceans. The CARC/CNF National Marine Conservation Strategy Programme expects to have a discussion document ready shortly after Oceans Day (June 8) 1995 that will expand upon each of these points and offer means to implement them.

Conclusion

The CARC/CNF National Marine Conservation Strategy Programme will, with the completion of the discussion document, have captured important regional views on marine conservation in Canada. CARC and CNF will then be well positioned to advise the government of the regional views on marine conservation and sustainable use as it builds and revises Canada's national marine policy. The second year of the programme will be dedicated to communicating the information gathered over the first year and working to assure its incorDoration in national policy.

Leslie Beckmann is CARC's Marine Conservation Advisor.

If you have comments or questions about the programme, or would like to suggest methods for marine conservation, please contact Leslie Beckmann at CARC at (613) 241-7379. Or you can fax or e-mail us: the fax number is (613) 241-2244 and the e-mail address is ay385@freenet.carleton.ca.