References

Background reading on marine traffic risk in the region

Public sources that describe the agreements, frameworks, studies, and plans surrounding marine shipping on the North and Central Coast, Haida Gwaii, and North Vancouver Island. All links open in a new tab.

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The Technical Team is building this list as the assessment proceeds and welcomes pointers to studies, plans, datasets, community reports, or other resources that should inform the Northern Shelf Bioregion Marine Traffic Risk Assessment. Use the short form to tell us what the source is and why it matters.

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Governance and agreements

The agreements and measures the project sits within

The legal and governance instruments that frame marine traffic on the North and Central Coast, Haida Gwaii, and North Vancouver Island.

  • Reconciliation Framework Agreement for Bioregional Oceans Management and Protection

    Canada and 14 First Nations of the Northern Shelf Bioregion · 2018 · Agreement (PDF)

    The 2018 agreement under which the Nations and Canada co-develop and co-manage marine initiatives in the Northern Shelf Bioregion. The Marine Traffic Risk Assessment is co-led under this agreement.

  • Reconciliation Framework Agreement backgrounder

    Prime Minister of Canada · 2018 · Backgrounder

    Plain-language summary of the agreement issued at signing in Prince Rupert on June 21, 2018.

  • Oil Tanker Moratorium Act

    Government of Canada · 2019 · Statute

    Prohibits oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude or persistent oil from stopping or unloading at ports on British Columbia's north coast, from the Alaska border to the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

  • Haida Gwaii Voluntary Protection Zone for Shipping

    Council of the Haida Nation and Transport Canada · 2020 · Programme site

    A voluntary zone extending at least 50 nautical miles off the west coast of Haida Gwaii in which commercial vessels of 500 gross tonnage and above are asked not to transit. In place since September 2020.

  • Oceans Protection Plan

    Transport Canada · ongoing · Programme page

    The federal programme for marine safety, ship-source pollution prevention, coastal ecosystem protection, and partnerships with Indigenous and coastal communities.

Risk governance frameworks

Published frameworks for assessing and governing risk

International guidance on how risk is identified, analysed, evaluated, and governed. These are resources the Steering Committee may draw on as it designs the assessment methodology.

Marine shipping risk on the BC coast

Studies and scholarship on shipping in Canadian waters

Peer-reviewed and applied work on shipping traffic, area-based management, and risk on Canada's coasts, with direct relevance to the Northern Shelf Bioregion.

Project reviews and incident records

Assessments of proposed projects and records of past incidents

Formal federal reviews of shipping-related projects proposed for these waters, and public records of marine incidents on this coast and what was learned from them.

  • Connections and Considerations: Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project

    Joint Review Panel (National Energy Board and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) · 2013 · Panel report, two volumes

    The federal panel's two-volume review of the proposed Kitimat pipeline and marine terminal, with detailed evidence on tanker routing and marine safety in Douglas Channel, Hecate Strait, and the approach waters. The project was not built; the review record remains the most extensive traffic-risk analysis produced for this region.

  • TERMPOL Review Process on the LNG Canada Project

    Transport Canada · 2015 · Technical review report

    The TERMPOL committee's assessment (TP 15287E) of LNG carrier routing, navigability, and marine terminal operations for the LNG Canada facility at Kitimat.

  • TERMPOL Review Process on the Kitimat LNG Project

    Transport Canada · 2018 · Technical review report

    The TERMPOL committee's findings (TP 15385E) on the proposed Kitimat LNG terminal at Bish Cove, covering the design vessel, the route through Douglas Channel, and terminal operations.

  • Marine Cargo Container Spills: Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

    House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans · 2022 · Parliamentary committee report

    The committee's study of the October 2021 ZIM Kingston container loss off Vancouver Island, with recommendations on incident response, emergency towing capability, salvage, and communication with coastal communities.

  • MV ZIM Kingston Incident Response National After-Action Report

    Canadian Coast Guard · 2026 · After-action report

    The Coast Guard's national review of the October to December 2021 ZIM Kingston response, examining how the container-loss and fire response was coordinated and what it showed about marine incident readiness.

  • Workshop Summary: Lessons from the Simushir

    Council of the Haida Nation · 2015 · Workshop report (PDF)

    The Haida Nation's debrief of the October 2014 Simushir incident, in which a disabled cargo vessel drifted toward the west coast of Haida Gwaii, with recommendations for marine emergency response on the coast.

Indigenous knowledge and data governance

Principles and plans led by First Nations

Frameworks that govern how First Nations knowledge and data are held and shared, and the marine plans First Nations have already developed for these waters.

  • The First Nations Principles of OCAP

    First Nations Information Governance Centre · est. 1998 · Principles

    Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession: the principles asserting that First Nations own and control how information about their communities is collected, used, and shared.

  • Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP)

    17 First Nations and the Province of British Columbia · 2015 onward · Marine planning partnership

    The co-led partnership that produced marine plans for Haida Gwaii, the North Coast, the Central Coast, and North Vancouver Island, and now oversees their implementation.

  • Haida Gwaii Marine Plan

    Council of the Haida Nation and Province of British Columbia · 2015 · Marine plan

    The marine use plan for the waters around Haida Gwaii, developed by the Haida Nation and British Columbia.

  • North Coast Marine Plan

    North Coast First Nations and Province of British Columbia · 2015 · Marine plan

    The MaPP sub-regional plan covering the waters from the Alaska border south to Princess Royal Island.

  • Central Coast Marine Plan

    Central Coast First Nations and Province of British Columbia · 2015 · Marine plan

    The MaPP sub-regional plan covering the waters of the Central Coast, including the territories of the Heiltsuk, Kitasoo Xai'xais, Nuxalk, and Wuikinuxv Nations.

  • Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative

    Coastal First Nations · ongoing · Alliance

    The alliance of First Nations on British Columbia's North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii that co-leads this project with Transport Canada.

Data and mapping

Public data sources on marine traffic and incidents

Publicly available datasets and atlases describing vessel movements, marine occurrences, and the marine environment of the region.

This list is a starting point, not a complete bibliography. Sources are listed for background; inclusion here does not indicate that the project has adopted a particular framework, method, or dataset. Suggestions for additions are welcome through the suggestion form or the contacts below.