Inuit guardians are on the front lines of maintaining sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, but small yachts are still allowed to travel through NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 waters undetected, experts told a conference in Iqaluit on June 26.
Because Inuit monitoring teams donSA国际影视传媒檛 have enforcement capabilities, any ships entering restricted waters in environmentally sensitive areas are simply referred to federal authorities, the Arctic Sovereignty and Security Summit heard.
SA国际影视传媒淲e observe and report because we donSA国际影视传媒檛 have the power to observe a vessel unless Transport Canada comes in to do that kind of work, so we still have a gap there,SA国际影视传媒� said Daniel Taukie, the Inuit Marine Monitoring Program coordinator at Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.
The summit heard several accounts of Inuit spotting vessels they didnSA国际影视传媒檛 recognize, and asked experts where these ships were coming from.
Unidentified vessels being spotted by local residents are likely private yachts that have turned off their tracking beacon, called an automated identification system (AIS).
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not mandatory for the smaller vessels to have AIS, but many have it due to safety reasons,SA国际影视传媒� Steven Lonsdale, senior program manager at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, told the audience. SA国际影视传媒淚f we want to change that, we need to change the regulations.SA国际影视传媒�
Lonsdale said heSA国际影视传媒檚 advocated for mandatory AIS on all ships in the Northwest Passage in the past, but thatSA国际影视传媒檚 still not a reality.
However, the federal government will require all vessels to have permits before entering some marine conservation areas in the near future, Lonsdale said.
Most of the pleasure craft are going to Eastern Baffin Island, and the High Arctic generally, to observe the mountains and lakes, according to Taukie.
Both Taukie and Lonsdale praised Transport Canada and Parks Canada as productive partners in monitoring the Northwest Passage.
Lonsdale explained how Inuit guardians, or Nauttiqsuqtiit, are using traditional knowledge and modern science to facilitate enhanced maritime situational awareness for Transport Canada.
Nauttiqsuqtiit have learned the skills to survive in the wilderness, where they can use digital mapping software.
SA国际影视传媒淭hey can create a digital fence anywhere, and if a ship is to cross that digital fence, they receive an alert on their cellphone as a text or an email,SA国际影视传媒� Lonsdale said.
Nunavummiut communities and Transport Canada then receive updates from the Nauttiqsuqtiit on where vessels are heading.
The software only works, however, if the ships have their AIS system turned on.
That remains a legal requirement for all maritime transport, apart from small pleasure craft, Taukie and Lonsdale explained.
The cooperation between the federal government and Inuit peoples on monitoring the Northwest Passage and remaining stewards of the land is vital, said Suzanne Lalonde, professor of international law at the University of Montreal.
CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 claim over the Northwest Passage as internal waters SA国际影视传媒� as opposed to an international shipping route SA国际影视传媒� remains an open debate on the global stage.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 worried that CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 legal position, which is based on, founded on Inuit use and stewardship, might be tested,SA国际影视传媒� Lalonde said.
The most likely challenge against Canadian and Inuit sovereignty over the Northwest Passage is likely to come from the U.S., according to Lalonde.
Sightings of unknown vessels in open or restricted waters cause concern among Nunavummiut communities, Jeannie Ehaloak, a former mayor of Cambridge Bay, told the summit.
SA国际影视传媒淭here was one summer where there was a big silver yacht or a ship that came into Cambridge Bay, and it just sat there, nobody came off, nobody got on,SA国际影视传媒� Ehaloak said. SA国际影视传媒淲hy were they there? Do we know who they are? Do we know what theySA国际影视传媒檙e doing here?SA国际影视传媒�
