Under international law Canada
has control over:
·
A “Territorial Sea”, extending 12 nautical miles from
the coastline of British Columbia. This
area is fully a part of Canada with all laws applying fully;
·
A “Contiguous Zone”, extending a further 12 nautical
miles from the outside of the Territorial Sea, in which Canada can take action
to prevent the commission of offences in Canadian territory (mostly related to
immigration, sanitary laws, etc.)
·
An “Exclusive Economic Zone”, extending to 200 nautical
miles from the coastline of British Columbia.
In this area Canada can claim the benefit of exploitation of the ocean
or the seabed under it, and can protect the marine environment.
The Oceans Act
recognizes these three zones and gives the federal Minister
of Fisheries and Oceans specific powers to regulate ocean areas under
its control.
It creates three major tools
for protecting Canada’s ocean environment:
·
It requires the Minister, working with all levels of
government and other stakeholders, to develop a National
Ocean Strategy;
·
It requires the Minister to develop Integrated
Management Plans covering Canada’s oceans; and
·
It allows the Minister to designate Marine Protected Areas that would impose legal
restrictions on use of a particular area.
While the National Strategy
deals with the abstract, the Integrated Management Plans, at least in theory,
attempt to coordinate how oceans will actually be managed. “Integrated Management” attempts to develop
plans that allow different users of ocean resources to use the ocean without
getting in each others way or harming the environment. Fisheries and Oceans Canada describes it as:
A comprehensive way of
planning and managing human activities so that they do not conflict with one another,
and so that all factors are considered for the conservation and sustainable use
of marine resources and shared use of ocean spaces.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
eventually intends to consider integrated management on both the large and
small scale. The Pacific Region
Integrated Management Home Page shows what plans are being developed at
this time.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada has
committed to working with community groups and non-governmental organizations,
as well as other levels of government, to develop plans. In some cases it may create an Integrated
Management Board, made of both government and non-governmental representatives
with interests in the specific area, to spearhead the development of the
plan.
Fisheries and Oceans’ Policy
and Operational Framework for Integrated Management of Estuarine, Coastal and
Marine Environments in Canada sets out 6 steps in the development of an
integrated management plan:
·
Define and assess area – This may be caused by
an initiating event, including complaints from marine users;
·
Engage Affected Interests – Governments and
stakeholders come together to commit to integrated management;
·
Develop Integrated Management Plan – Establish a
process for, and develop, a plan;
·
Endorsement of Plan by Decision-makers –
Fisheries and Oceans and any other agencies that are making commitments under
the plan will need to endorse the plan;
·
Implement Plan – Specific steps from the plan
are put into action;
·
Monitor, Evaluate and Revise Plan – The previous
5 steps are just the beginning, and may be repeated as needed. Flexibility is needed to allow the plan to
evolve on the basis of current information.
As part of the development of
an Integrated Management Plan the Minister may establish “marine environmental
quality guidelines, objectives and criteria”.
These might include levels of acceptable pollution or “best practices”
rules about how some type of development should be carried out. However, although there is a commitment to
develop marine environmental guidelines, the guidelines, objectives and
criteria will not themselves be enforceable.
They can influence government decisions or be adopted voluntarily by private
interests.
Related Guide Pages:
·
Marine Protected Areas
·
Oceans Strategy
·
Oceans
For more information about the Oceans Act:
·
Text of the Oceans Act
·
Fisheries and Oceans
Canada – Pacific Region Website. Of
special interest are the Oceans Program home page
and the Pacific
Region Integrated Management Home Page.
·
Canada’s
Ocean Strategy
·
“Comments
on the Oceans Act” – West Coast Environmental Law’s critique of the Oceans
Act before it became law.
·
Living Oceans
Society – A B.C. environmental organization working on protecting our
oceans.
