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Save our station Letter to the Halifax Chronicle Herald, October 09, 2004 |
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Sable Island outpost more valuable to Canada than any savings its closure would generate
By ZOE LUCAS AND BILL FREEDMAN
SABLE ISLAND lies in the open Atlantic, about 200 kilometres southeast of the nearest landfall on the Nova Scotia mainland.
Since 1801, when a lifesaving station was established, the island has had a continuous, government-funded, human presence. In recent years, the Sable Island Station has been responsible for many vital functions, including a world-class program in atmospheric science, and stewardship of the natural and heritage values of the island. Now, in pursuit of annual cost savings of only a half-million dollars, the federal government is considering closing the station. This would be an awful and irreversible mistake.
A continuous human presence on Sable Island provides effective stewardship, and key infrastructure to support diverse programs relevant to sovereignty, safety, cultural heritage, and environment and biodiversity. The station ensures cost-effective and safe operations for many university, government, industry, and private researchers working throughout the year, and for visits by media groups and artists.
Without the capacity and capability provided by the station, the worthwhile programs it supports would become prohibitively expensive and impossible. The crucial issues are:
Sovereignty: Sable Island is the most isolated island in Canada. Its location establishes an area of sovereignty on the Scotian Shelf and greatly extends our 320-kilometre exclusive economic zone. This confirms Canadian control of extensive fishery and hydrocarbon resources. A human presence on Sable Island reinforces Canada's sovereignty and security.
Search & rescue: A permanent staff on the island provides infrastructure for refuelling marine helicopters used by the military, coast guard, and offshore industry. It also provides a base of operations during marine disasters - the station stores oil-spill clean-up equipment and emergency supplies for 150 people.
Environmental work: Sable Island is an invaluable platform for monitoring and research of oceanic and atmospheric conditions. Some existing programs provide crucial databases of global importance (e.g., atmospheric CO2). The island is important because of its remote location, and its proximity to the Gully Marine Protected Area and offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production.
Natural conservation & stewardship: Sable Island has outstanding natural values, including rare and endangered species and unique ecosystems. Effective stewardship requires a human presence, particularly for nesting birds, seal colonies, the famous horses, and trampling-sensitive vegetation. Conservation of threatened biodiversity also requires monitoring and research, which would be extremely difficult without the infrastructure provided by the station.
Cultural heritage: Sable Island's long history of settlement, shipwrecks, and horses is significant to Canadian heritage, and artefacts are of great interest to historians, and to collectors. The station enables conservation of materials uncovered by storms and erosion, and protects them from collection by private interests.
Clearly, a continuously staffed station addresses interests relevant to sovereignty, environment, and culture. It would be a grave error to close the station, and half-million dollars of annual savings would not justify this rash action. Federal agencies with mandates and/or interests are led by Environment Canada and Fisheries & Oceans, but include Transport Canada, Foreign Affairs, National Defence, and Heritage.
We urge the minister of fisheries and/or minister of environment to take a responsible lead in resolving this issue by committing to maintain the Sable Island Station. It would be a serious mistake if this were not done.
Zoe Lucas is a biologist working on Sable Island, and Bill Freedman is an ecologist and chair of biology at Dalhousie University.
For more info: http://ww.greenhorsesociety.com/default.htm |