Ocean Development and Management in the Arctic: Issues in American and Canadian Relations

The need for Canadian-American cooperative ocean management in the Arctic stems from four factors. Transboundary ocean currents have the potential to carry marine pollutants from one country to the other. Many living resources, such as bowhead and beluga whales, do not recognize political boundaries. Native communities depend culturally and economically on coastal resources. Technological collaboration in such areas as satellite communications and navigational aids is necessary to avoid costly duplications. Three documents - the World Conservation Strategy, the Report of the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment, and the Law of the Sea Convention - bid the United States and Canada to join hands in managing resources in a more systematic manner. At least four jurisdictional issues concerning arctic waters are capable of rocking future U.S.-Canadian relations: the Alaska/Yukon offshore boundary, the legal status of the waters of the Canadian arctic archipelago and the Northwest Passage, the legal principles governing the exclusive economic zones in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas, and the legal regime applicable to arctic waters and the seabed beyond 200 nautical miles. Although cooperative ocean management may be hindered by national complexities, such as lack of clear arctic policies, fragmented decision-making processes, and tensions between government managers and local communities, the two countries should address eight threshold questions concerning future institutional linkages: Are present formal and informal arrangements adequate for arctic ocean management? What type or types of agreement - demonstrative, administrative, distributive or resolutive - should be used to formalize cooperation? What level of cooperation - bilateral, trilateral, arctic-wide or global - is required and politically feasible? Should the two countries create new management institutions or should they harmonize existing legislation and administration? Should one "super commission" be created with a say over all arctic marine issues or should a number of commissions be created for coordinating individual ocean uses? Should joint institutions have advisory or actual decision-making powers? What role should native groups play in regionalized arctic marine management? What type of dispute-settlement mechanism(s) should be established?Key words: Canada-U.S. relations, ocean development and management, international law of the seaMots clés: relations Canada-E.U., développement et gestion de l'océan, droit international de la me

On the line: Women and Fish Plant Jobs in Atlantic Canada

On the Line : Women and Fish Plant Jobs in Atlantic Canad

"Bloody decks and a bumper crop": the rhetoric of counter-protest

In Newfoundland, sealing has been a traditional activity for centuries. Despite the fact that the number of ships and men who go to the ice has declined steadily since the late eighteenth century, the whitecoat hunt continues, providing additional income and adventure for men after a long and dreary winter. In the last decade, the hunt has become the focus of attention which has evolved into an international controversy and business in its own right. Initially, conservationists and humane societies were concerned about killing methods and species population, but federal government regulation and supervision corrected blatant abuses. The second wave of protest brought sophisticated urbanite ecologists to the scene, and with emotional appeals through the media, they created an outraged public who demanded a moratorium on the hunt. -- Newfoundlanders first regarded the protest as amusing, but as the threat became more apparent, frequent expressions of counter-protest circulated through newspapers, radio and television programs, and in other public spheres. This thesis argues that counter-protest is a distinctive theme which has culturally-specific rhetorical arguments. Using examples from letters-to-the-editor columns, calls to open-line radio programs, and other sources, I have constructed a typology of expressive strategies which are employed regardless of the form of counter-protest, or the background of the individual expressing such sentiments. -- Emphasis on counter-protest poetry and songs is an effort to demonstrate the continuity of traditional expressive behavior in Newfoundland. Verse-making has long been a popular and respected activity, and sealing has been the theme of innumerable compositions. The esoteric nature of the occupation further contributes to its ability to excite the imagination, and there is continuing public admiration for swilers and their ships. -- Newfoundlanders interpret the protest as an assault on their character and integrity, and their expressions reveal a defiant determination to protect their heritage and independence. In contrast, the environmentalists argue from a different perspective, one that encompasses a global ecosystem, and for this reason, it is unlikely the two sides will ever agree about the whitecoat hunt

Fishing for facts in Atlantic Canada: information sources for social scientists.

pp. 21-3