OTTAWA - Canada's new government today announced an important initiative in support of its commitment to secure seabed resources beyond the 200-mile limit to the edge of the continental shelf.
The continental shelf refers to the natural prolongation of the continent before the bottom descends to the deep oceanic floor.
The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced the award of a $2-million contract to Fugro Jacques GeoSurveys Inc. of Newfoundland and Labrador to identify the outer edge of the continental shelf beyond the 200-mile limit on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap.
"This mapping will enable Canada to establish with certainty where our continental shelf begins and ends," said Minister Hearn. "This will give Canada undisputed international recognition for our sovereign rights over the seabed resources in the areas beyond our 200-mile limit."
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes coastal state rights to an exclusive economic zone that is 200 nautical miles. It also allows for countries to identify the outer edge of the continental shelf where it extends beyond this zone. By knowing the continental shelf's exact limits, countries can identify where they have sovereign rights to exploit natural resources on the seabed, such as clams, crab and scallops, as well as resources under the seabed, such as oil and gas.
"Canada is working hard to obtain the best scientific evidence to support our claim to the largest area of continental shelf, in accordance with international law," said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. "Establishing the limits of the extended continental shelf will allow Canada to delineate precisely the full extent of the area over which it exercises sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting its natural resources."
Coastal states with a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles have 10 years from ratification of UNCLOS to determine its outer edge. Canada ratified UNCLOS in 2003. Led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, UNCLOS-mapping is a joint federal government initiative with Natural Resources Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
"Canada's extended continental shelf in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans is approximately 1,750,000 square kilometres-an area equivalent to the size of Canada's three prairie provinces," said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. "We already enjoy sovereign rights in these areas, but to provide certainty for future economic development of seabed resources, it is important to gain international recognition of their full extent."
Natural Resources Canada has a joint initiative with The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland to conduct surveys in northern boundary waters. As part of this agreement, a joint Canada-Denmark seismic project was carried out in the spring of 2006 from Canadian Forces Station Alert, located on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. The goal was to determine if Lomonosov Ridge meets UNCLOS requirements for an extension of the North American continental shelf.
With a new contract in place, Canada is set to survey approximately 17,000 square kilometres of seabed off Newfoundland and Labrador. Specifically, Fugro Jacques GeoSurveys Inc. will collect multi-beam (multiple sonar beams) survey data between July and September 2006. Strategic hydrographic profiles will be surveyed from southern Labrador to the Laurentian Channel, including the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks, the Flemish Cap, and the Orphan Knoll.
Canada will also conduct northern survey work in August 2006, using the icebreaker
CCGS Louis S. St.Laurent.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sophie Galarneau
Manager, Media Relations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
613-990-7537
Steve Outhouse
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
613-992-3474
Ghyslain Charron
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-992-4447
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
