MONT-JOLI, QUÉBEC – Mont-Joli – The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has started its new season of hydrographic surveys of Quebec's navigable waterways.
The surveys are a key element of DFO's program to maintain and improve navigational safety. They make it possible to identify shoals and to update official CHS nautical charts and nautical publications. The exercise is conducted from specialized launches fitted with echo sounders and highly accurate electronic positioning systems. By the end of the season, which began on April 20, 2009 and will conclude in December, the hydrographic teams will have navigated over 10,000 km to monitor the state of the St. Lawrence channel.
The surveys will be concentrated on the maintained part of the St. Lawrence channel, the ports of Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Sept-Îles, as well as a number of ports in the Gaspé. Additional surveys will be carried out in the areas of Cap-à-l'Aigle and Trois-Pistoles, from Pointe des Monts to Sept-Îles, and in the Honguedo Strait and the Magdalen Islands.
Mariners are urged to advise CHS if they discover new or suspected dangers to navigation or observe conditions not addressed in the nautical charts. To facilitate the survey process, mariners should report the type of hazard, its position and the date and time of observation. This information can be relayed to CHS by phoning (418) 775-0502 or by sending an e-mail to chsinfo@dfo-mpo.gc.ca .
The Canadian Hydrographic Service is responsible for charting Canadian navigable waters. It prepares, publishes and updates nautical charts and official nautical publications that are essential to all mariners. The team responsible for all Quebec Region is based at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli; his catalogue presents 60 nautical charts.
The surveys are conducted from specialized launches fitted with echo sounders and highly accurate electronic positioning systems as the CCGS GC-03
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sylvi Racine
Communications Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Quebec Region
Mont-Joli, Quebec
(418) 775-0744
NR-QR-09-34E
