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The Concept of Sustainable Shipping
and Boating Practices
Shipping and
Boating is an entirely new intervention sector of Phase III
of the St. Lawrence Action Plan. The current agenda calls for
bringing together, around the same table, the many parties who
are active in this field in order to explore solutions that
will lead to a convergence of economic development and health
concerns as related to the St. Lawrence ecosystems.
The
many issues at stake involving commercial shipping and pleasure
boating along the St. Lawrence are not new. Matters such as
contaminated sediment, dredging and shoreline erosion, for instance,
have already been brought to the attention of the authorities
and have led to studies and activities being carried out in
the previous stages. "This is the first time, however,
that we have integrated these issues under one sole intervention
sector and are dealing with them in a concerted fashion."
"The dynamics of our approach have changed considerably
since the first St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP) was launched
in 1988," affirms Gervais Bouchard, Interim Manager of
engineering services with the Canadian Coast Guard and co-chair
of the Shipping and Boating sector. "The involvement of
riverside communities has made people more aware than ever before
that the St. Lawrence is an important waterway used by maritime
and river transportation; now they are wondering about its use
as such by the transportation industry and want to voice their
opinions."
A concerted effort to arrive at a sustainable navigation
strategy
A growing number of stakeholders-riverside communities, recreational
and tourist industries, environmental groups, and the general
public-are becoming more concerned about commercial shipping
and pleasure boating. Consequently, maritime shipping industries
and harbours must address increasingly complex environmental
issues. In this perspective, a sizeable number of non-governmental
representatives, representing the various users of the river,
will be sitting on the Navigation Committee. "Our objective
is to make this cooperation committee a locus for credible and
effective collaboration through the participation and trust
of all interested parties," states Jérôme Faivre from the
shipping service of the ministère des Transports du Québec,
who is also the committee’s acting co-chair. "As a
new partner of SLV 2000, we have a great deal of coordination
and planning ahead of us, in particular because the committee
is a new component of the agreement, and also owing to the diverse
background of the members on the committee."
Priority number one of the committee is the preparation of an
exhaustive survey of the various aspects related to current
shipping and boating practices, and it will look for solutions
likely to improve the situation. The survey’s results will
then be submitted to a broad public consultation, whereupon
people will be able to voice their opinions on the issues involved.
Preparatory work for the carrying out of this assessment of
the industry is starting this fall.
Safer boating practices
Even though the St. Lawrence is considered to be a very safe
waterway, tools are being devised to improve risk management
for ship captains and recreational boaters. The St. Lawrence
Observatory, for example, is a virtual tool which will provide
boaters with more accurate data on the prediction of water levels
that will allow them to travel more safely along the river.
The project is well under way, and will be in operation soon.
Dredging, shoreline erosion and contaminated sediment
Shipping and boating, shoreline erosion, contaminated sediment
and dredging in the river are inextricable linked. Here again,
the committee wishes to be able to address all of these issues.
"We must absolutely adopt an approach to these problems
that is both integrated and transparent," comments Gervais
Bouchard. "To date, these issues have been raised many
a time, but solutions have yet to be proposed and studied."
Shoreline erosion, for instance, is relatively well known by
the experts who have looked into the matter, but what are the
more effective means to control it? The type of ship, the speed,
the time of year, cargos and natural factors are all important
parts of the equation. The best solutions will be those that
will allow for all parties concerned to take part in the decisions.
How to manage contaminated sediment is the subject of many guides
published in recent years by Environment Canada, together with
the ministère de l’Environnement et de la Faune du Québec
(MEFQ). An updating of these management plans is on the agenda
for Phase III. Moreover, the committee will be studying an integrated
management approach to dredging the St. Lawrence River, a major
challenge indeed.
A concept needing to be fleshed out...
"The first two action plans dealt more with pollution sources
of land origin," recalls Jérôme Faivre, "but issues
related to sea travel (what happens on the surface) have not
been studied as much; not many useful reports have been drafted
that shed light on the questions that are on the mind of all
river users today. The Shipping and Boating sector is here to
put into perspective the relation that exists between transportation,
the environment and the condition of the St. Lawrence River."
All parties are agreed on the need to ensure the economic development
of the seaway without hampering any actions taken from an environmental
perspective. "We hope to set up a locus of concerted action
that is sufficiently representative and strong, so that it may
continue operating even beyond the year 2003," comments
Gervais Bouchard. "In my opinion, that is the best way
to make concrete headway in the approach to sustainable shipping
and boating practices along the St. Lawrence."
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