INTRODUCTION

A maritime economy is one in which wealth is generated by the use of the sea. The sea's resources are gathered and marketed. The products and skills fostered in a seafaring people are themselves sold and traded. As far back as Tudor times and earlier, whence Edward VII "could not bear to see trade sick", the partners in creating this wealth have been the skills and spirit of the competitive entrepreneur relying on his government to provide for the peace and good order of the seas and coastlines.

Canada is a Maritime Nation. We derive a substantial portion of our national wealth directly from the sea and from those who use the oceans. The Atlantic gives us access to our traditional markets to the East, and the Pacific coast to the glowing promise of Asia and beyond. It has been estimated that our oceans directly provide close to 26 billion dollars of national wealth and are used to transport 35 billion dollars in goods to export markets annually. Over 500,000 jobs depend directly on our oceans resources. If Canada is to continue to prosper, it must encourage the development of its marine-based economy. This is one of the prime motivations for Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic.

Background

Based on a two year study published in January 1993 on Canadian Marine Policy and Strategy by the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University, Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic is a multi-level, interdisciplinary, consultative study, spanning the entire field of Canada's maritime interests and focusing on sustainable wealth generation and competitiveness. While this study looks at the Northwest Atlantic, its methodology is applicable to subsequent analysis of Canada's maritime interests in the Northeast Pacific, the Canadian Arctic and Inland Waters.

In the earlier work on Canadian Marine Policy and Strategy, Canada's vital maritime interests in the broad fields of maritime security, marine transportation, resources, the marine environment, and science and technology were examined. Based on a detailed analysis of future threats and challenges, and known technological advances, a range of tasks required to protect, develop and sustain the country's vital maritime interests into the 21st Century were determined. Published under the title of National Requirements, the project identified over 250 threats, challenges, technologies and tasks.

Whereas the Canadian Marine Policy and Strategy Project determined WHAT should be done to develop, protect and sustain Canadian oceans interests, Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic recommends how best to achieve this goal - in other words, the HOW. While the first study was policy-oriented and national in scope, Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic focuses on Atlantic Canada and sustainable wealth generation.

The Objective Of The Project

The objective of Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic is to assist planners in developing strategies for protecting and enhancing Atlantic Canada's national and economic interests in its ocean approaches, regional seas, and waterways. It describes options and opportunities to meet the Atlantic region's oceans-related needs, identifying research and development, education and training, infrastructure, policy goals, management options, and legislation, regulations and standards that are essential to support Canada's national and international oceans policy for the Atlantic into the 21st Century.

This Project will be important to governments and oceans-related companies in preparing short and long range plans, and to others involved in research, development and strategic procurement decisions affecting Canada's ocean industries. We believe it will be a valuable input to the federal government's plan to develop a national Oceans Management Strategy for Canada under the new Oceans Act.

The Organizing Principle Of The Project

Traditionally, the sea has been used for the passage of goods and people, defence or invasion, and the exploitation of resources in or under it. Today, its integral place in the global environment and quality of life are recognized. Sustainable wealth generation and the quality of life are absolutely inseparable and should not be adversarial or in competition.

To produce wealth from the seas, two basic conditions must exist. These are order and security, and trade and industry. In turn, these conditions must be based on essential national capabilities, sound legal and management principles, and globally competitive technologies, the entire structure resting on the natural resource assets of the oceans. This is the organizing principle of the Project.

Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic examines the relationships between wealth generation, order and security, and maritime trade and industry as a whole, the ultimate goal being to develop, protect and sustain Canada's oceans interests in the Atlantic for the prosperity and well-being of Canadians.

Project Methodology

The Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic research plan was drawn up in January 1994. Twelve research papers in the fields of marine resources, the environment, marine transportation and maritime security were commissioned. The authors of these studies based their work on the earlier Canadian Marine Policy and Strategy Project, where possible, and described developments, trends and economic opportunities in their areas.

By October 1995, a Working Paper was produced, based for the most part on the twelve research studies. Its purpose was to provide a framework for a debate, in the form of a multi-agency exercise, on opportunities and options for the generation of wealth and jobs from the Northwest Atlantic in the 21st Century in the context of sustainable development and orderly management.

The perspectives and context of the Working Paper moves away from the national, policy-oriented tone of the earlier study towards the goal of wealth generation in Atlantic Canadian waters. The Working Paper ties trade, industry and oceans management to surveillance and information, leading to options and opportunities for action in the functional areas of:

• research and development;
• education and training;
• infrastructure;
• policy and management;
• legislation, regulations and standards; and
• industrial opportunities.

The Multi-Agency Exercise was conducted at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St John's on 9 to 11 November 1995. Its purpose was to broaden the knowledge base of the Project and critique the Working Paper. It brought together nearly 60 participants drawn from all levels of government, the private sector, universities and institutes, and non-governmental organizations with interests in the Northwest Atlantic. Participants were invited on the basis of their expertise and active involvement in oceans and coastal marine affairs. They did not represent official or organizational party lines, but participated as individuals with knowledge and experience in their field, and a willingness to forecast. An important by-product of the Multi-Agency Exercise was cross-disciplinary awareness and learning.

In January 1996, an Integration Plan was produced with the help of a team of selected experts in all fields, and an inventory of government and private sector policies, programs and activities in oceans and marine affairs was compiled in the form of the Annotated Bibliography accompanying the Final Report. The Report compares the longer term findings of Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic with these current initiatives and suggests options for reinforcement or change.

The Final Report

The Final Report takes the results of the Multi-Agency Exercise, the Working Paper and the Research Studies, and develops strategies to meet the objectives and opportunities agreed upon. It suggests a method for attaining them which overreaches sectoral or organizational lines yet proceeds from the current agendas of governments, industry and communities. The Final Report is a blueprint on how to reach long term objectives for wealth generation in the Northwest Atlantic.

To the extent practicable, the Report is organized along the rationale of the two year Project, which is that direct wealth generation from the sea in the form of trade and industry requires order and security (in and of itself an indirect wealth generator), the whole built on a firm national industrial base, competitive technologies, and laws and management principles conducive to the initiative of the entrepreneur.

Part One of the Report, Globally Competitive Technologies, is about monitoring and information technologies which are fundamental for trade, industry, order and security on the seas to flourish. Part Two, Trade and Industry, examines the marine resource, recreation and nature tourism, and marine transportation fields which hold the greatest promise in Atlantic Canadian waters for wealth from the sea, generated primarily by the private sector. In Part Three, Order and Security, marine safety, law enforcement and defence are defined as activities, provided mostly by governments, that are necessary to establish the stable oceans environment in which to maintain sustainable wealth generation. In Part Four, Essential National Capabilities, ocean industries and oceans and coastal management are examined. It is here where government policies, laws and regulations, and private sector and public management principles must function as a continuum. Each section of the Final Report contains a preamble consisting of an abstract of the contents and an analysis.

Recommendations

In the oceans and coastal context, integration has to be achieved between nations, levels of government, sectors, disciplines, industries, and the land-sea interface or ecosystem. Obviously, this is a most complex and difficult, multi-dimensional task requiring new ways of thinking.

Bearing this in mind, the authors of the Final Report have selected 89 recommendations over nine fields of oceans activity and have integrated them with six functional areas crossing sectoral boundaries.

These areas are:

• Research and Development;
• Education and Training;
• Infrastructure Development;
• Policy Goals;
• Management Options; and
• Laws, Regulations and Standards.

In the Matrix of Recommendations at the end of this Report, the recommendations are listed by field of oceans activity in the order in which they appear in the main text. The functional areas which they affect are also indicated.

The main themes and findings are summarized as follows:

• Promising areas for research and development are predictive modelling techniques; cold ocean technologies; automation; and artificial intelligence.
• In education and training, the need exists for broad-based public education on oceans and marine affairs; subject-specific education in schools; formal disciplines at the post-secondary level; the rationalization of curricula and subject matter between federal departments and educational institutions; and the identification of market potential in education and learning in marine affairs.
• With regard to infrastructure, the improvement and capitalization of information management systems serving marine transportation, surveillance and monitoring, and oceans and coastal zone management is a dominant theme. Also highlighted are surveys and assessment methodologies; intermodal rail/road/port upgrading; and the mid-to-long term replacement of ships, submarines, aircraft and sensor systems for patrol and response in Canada's coastal zones and overseas.
• Policy themes centre on the role of government in sustainable wealth generation. Government should take the lead and set the environment for resource development and coastal zone management, in consultation with stakeholders. The private sector and regional/local jurisdictions should carry out the policies to the extent practicable.
• With regard to management, partnership and information sharing are the primary management principles for sustainable wealth generation.
• Turning to laws, regulations and standards, the legislative and regulatory framework of oceans activities should be worked out in consultation with appropriate levels of jurisdiction and stakeholders. Compliance and enforcement should be regulated and delegated to the users wherever practicable.

Whereas industrial opportunities may be found in all oceans and marine fields described in this Report, priority should be given to Canadian successes in such areas as information management systems; remote sensing; shipboard automation; cold ocean technologies; and education and learning methodologies.

The Annotated Bibliography

As an adjunct to the Final Report, an Annotated Bibliography of current policy documents and other relevant materials, from both public and private sources, was constructed and is included at the end of the Report. Full citations for all references in the Report will be found here.

Conclusions

The recommendations on research and development, education and training, infrastructure, policy, management, and laws, regulations and standards that are made in the Final Report will be of interest and practical use, both to those in governments involved in making research, development and industrial policy decisions, and to those in industry and communities concerned with strategic planning in oceans-related sectors. Equally, the work will be useful to universities and institutes as a research piece, and as a general contribution to public awareness and knowledge.

Operating from an independent base, Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic has provided a forum for many people representing different points of view to meet, exchange ideas and develop solutions for the challenges which face Canada in relation to the protection and development of its oceans interests and resources. Nowhere is the need for a clear, practical vision, both short and long term, more critical than in Canada's Atlantic region. This Project has provided an opportunity to bring together all oceans sectors to forge a working plan for these valuable marine resources based on sound sustainable development and protection principles.

...another issue raised during the public forum...was the necessity of a collaborative approach to managing activities which affect oceans and their resources...Initiatives such as Canada's Oceans Strategies Project-the Atlantic... are valuable contributors to this collaborative approach.

The Honourable Brian Tobin
Minister for Fisheries and Oceans
January 1995

INTRODUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PART ONE: GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGIES

MONITORING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

• REQUIREMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND INFORMATION PROCESSING
• MONITORING AND INFORMATION PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFETY, SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
• MONITORING AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE ACTION

PART TWO: TRADE AND INDUSTRY

MARINE RESOURCES

• LIVING RESOURCES
• STATUS OF LIVING RESOURCES
• THE FISHING INDUSTRY, SCIENTISTS AND GOVERNMENT
• NON-LIVING RESOURCES
• MARINE MINERALS DEVELOPMENT
• ENERGY RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

MARINE RECREATION AND NATURE TOURISM

• GROWTH AND USAGE IN MARINE RECREATION AND NATURE TOURISM
• CONSERVATION OR PRESERVATION AND THE ROLES OF GOVERNMENTS
• LEGISLATION, STANDARDS, REGULATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT
• STRATEGIC SECTORS: THE ATLANTIC REGION
• PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

MARINE TRANSPORTATION

• INTERMODALISM
• PORTS
• TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AND FACILITIES
• NATIONAL MARINE POLICY OBJECTIVES

PART THREE: ORDER AND SECURITY

MARINE SAFETY

• POLICY, MANAGEMENT AND LEGISLATIVE SHIFTS
• TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN MARINE SAFETY SYSTEMS
• SAFETY AND CERTIFICATION: THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF SEAFARERS
• STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT

• EMERGING THREATS TO THE OCEANS
• CURRENT APPROACHES TO MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT
• PREPARING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

MARITIME DEFENCE

• CANADA'S MARITIME STRATEGY
• MARITIME FORCE REQUIREMENTS
• RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

PART FOUR: ESSENTIAL NATIONAL CAPABILITIES

OCEAN INDUSTRIES

• THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN AN OCEAN INDUSTRIES STRATEGY
• COORDINATING AGENCIES
• STRATEGIC SECTORS

OCEANS AND COASTAL MANAGEMENT

• JURISDICTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN THE COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT
• STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CANADA'S OCEAN AND COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS

ENDNOTES

MATRIX OF RECOMMENDATIONS

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

All The Ships That Sail
Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP)
Bill C-26 - An Act respecting the oceans of Canada
Building A Fishery That Works
Canada's International Business Strategy 1996-1997
Canada's Maritime Forces In 2015
Canada's Oceans
Centre of Excellence
Changing Markets For Ocean Technologies
Coastal 2000
Coastal and Ocean Information Technology and Services
Coastal Zone Canada '94 - "Cooperation in the Coastal Zone"
Coastal Zone Canada '96
Committee On Oceans And Coasts
Creating New Wealth From The Sea
1994 Defence White Paper
Final Report: The Commission on Land Use and the Rural Environment
Government Response to the Final Report of the Commission on Land Use and the Rural Environment
Healthy, Wealthy And Wise
Interdepartmental Concept of Maritime Operations
Land-Based Surveillance Of Air And Surface Targets In The EEZ
Maritime Command Level One Business Plan 1996/1997
Maritime Commander's Operational Planning Guidance, Volume One
Memorial University of Newfoundland
National Marine Policy
Nova Scotia Aquaculture Development Strategy
Offshore and Onshore Potential
Parks Canada Guiding Principles and Operational Policies
Regional Aquaculture Development Advisory Committees (RADACs)
Role Of The Federal Government In The Oceans Sector (Draft)
Roles And Responsibilities In The Oceans Sector (Revised)
Science and Technology for the New Century
Sea To Sea To Sea
Seas the Day - Towards a National Marine Conservation Strategy for Canada
Strategic Planning and Implementation Process for the Nova Scotia Oceans Initiative
Technology Partnerships Canada
The Canada/Newfoundland Offshore Development Fund
The Greater Halifax Multi-Modal Transportation Study
The Gulf of Maine Action Plan 1991-2000
The Hidden Sector
The Naval Vision
The Report of the Partnership on Sustainable Coastal Communities and Marine Ecosystems in Newfoundland and Labrador
Unto the Sea

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS