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Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment

Human Dimensions of Shipping: Background Report

Lead Author Henry P. Huntington

Contributing Authors Section 2.1:Victoria Gofman, Aleut International Association Section 2.2: Janice Walton, Aleut International Association Section 2.3: Henry Huntington and Norm Snow Sections 2.4 and 2.5: Tero Mustonen Section 3: Circumpolar Council (ICC) Section 4: Esther Cunningham, Lawson Brigham, Ross MacDonald, Gunn•Britt Retter, and Maya Gold Section 5: Thom Stubbs and Carly Dokis CH •X ANG DF E P

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...... 3 2. Human Use of the Arctic Marine Environment ...... 5

2.1 A container of hazardous materials washes ashore in the Commander Islands, ...... 6 2.2 Extent of use of the marine environment by Aleut communities ...... 8 2.3 beluga whales: local and distant effects of shipping ...... 9 2.4. Where the Gulf Stream freezes – reflections from the Kola Coast ...... 11 2.5 From land to sea, sea to land: influences of nuclear lighthouses in northern Russia...... 14 3. “The Sea Ice Is Our Highway”: an Inuit Perspective on Transportation in the Arctic ...... 15

3.1 Introduction...... 15 3.1.1 The Arctic ...... 16 3.1.2 The Land...... 16 3.1.3 Scope of the Section ...... 16 3.2. Our Nomadic Tradition ...... 17 3.2.1 The Four Stages of Inuit History ...... 17 3.2.2 Travellers and Nomads...... 19 3.3. Moving to Follow the Game ...... 20 3.3.1 Continued Importance of Traditional Diet...... 20 3.3.2 Harvesting What the Land Provides...... 22 3.3.3 General Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Patterns ...... 23 3.3.4 Regional Variations in Land Use and Occupancy ...... 25 3.3.5 Necessity of Movement Over Land and Sea...... 27 3.3.6 Recent Adaptations...... 27 3.4. Inuit Sustainability ...... 29 3.4.1 Sustainability, the Local Economy, and Shipping ...... 30 3.5. Conclusion ...... 33 4. Town Hall Meetings...... 33 5. Impacts of Marine Shipping on Arctic Communities ...... 35

5.1 Introduction...... 35 5.2. Key Types of Shipping Activities and their Implications ...... 36 5.2.1 Resource Development and the Economy ...... 36 5.2.2 Community Resupply ...... 44 5.2.3 Internationalization of Shipping...... 46 5.3 Social and Economic Consequences of Arctic Marine Shipping in Canada ...... 47 5.3.1 Bent Horn...... 47 5.3.2 Mine ...... 50 5.3.3 Port of Churchill...... 52 5.3.4 Beaufort Sea ...... 55 5.3.5 Bathurst Port and Road Project...... 59 5.3.6 Polaris Mine...... 62 5.3.7 Mackenzie Valley Highway...... 64 5.4 Case Study Common Findings ...... 67 5.4.1 Resource Development and the Economy ...... 67 5.4.2 Community Resupply ...... 69 CH •X ANG DF E P

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5.4.3 Internationalization of Shipping...... 70 6. Discussion and Conclusions ...... 71

6.1 Uncertainty, Management, and Communication ...... 71 6.2 Types of Impacts and Interactions ...... 72 7. References ...... 75 CH •X ANG DF E P

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1. Introduction “Human dimensions” refers to the interrelationships of people and the environment, particularly with respect to environmental change (e.g., Raynor and Malone 1998; Liverman et al. 1999, Huntington et al. 2007a). Often, human dimensions concerns broad issues such as government policies (e.g., Parry et al. 1998) or institutional responses to change (e.g., Dietz et al. 2003). In the Arctic, human dimensions research has typically looked at local or regional cases (Huntington et al. 2007a). For marine shipping in the Arctic, both the broad and the local approaches are important to consider. Shipping will occur across the entire region, requiring national and international policies to provide effective management and regulation. Because trans•shipping will be driven largely by global economic factors, as will more local shipping for resource development, the role of institutions such as shipping companies, regulatory agencies, and local or regional organizations who may be affected will all be pertinent.

This chapter addresses primarily the local aspects of human dimensions of Arctic marine shipping. Governance is addressed in Chapter 2 (History of Arctic Marine Transport and Governance), with additional discussion in Chapter 6 (Environmental Impacts). Some institutional dimensions are also considered in Chapter 6 as well as in Chapter 7 (Current and Anticipated Infrastructure). Chapter 5 (Scenarios and Futures of Arctic Marine Activity) considers the larger political and economic drivers of marine shipping and the regulation thereof, providing the overall context for the assessment. This chapter complements the rest of the assessment by looking closely at the implications of Arctic marine shipping for Arctic communities, with a particular focus on indigenous communities and traditional activities in the marine environment.

Local human dimensions are a product of many influences, from cultural and environmental context to social and climatic change (e.g., Nuttall and Callaghan 2000). While we cannot here attempt a comprehensive review of all those influences, we should at least recognize that Arctic marine shipping will occur in the context of many other changes affecting Arctic residents. Climate change, which will make the Arctic more accessible to marine shipping, will affect most aspects of the lives of Arctic residents, from traditional livelihoods to infrastructure to the spread of disease (ACIA 2005). Social and economic change will come from national and global trends in trade and communication (e.g., AHDR 2004). Impacts to the environment and society are most likely to stem from the interactions of human and environmental change, particularly as human choices influence the trajectories of change (e.g., Huntington et al. 2007b). In this context, shipping may play a significant role not only on its own, but perhaps even more likely through combining with other drivers of change.

Arctic marine shipping involves several distinct activities, each with different interactions with local residents and thus different implications and likely impacts. Trans•shipping of cargo, using the Arctic merely as a corridor between distant ports, has some potential for environmental impact (depending largely on cargo carried, but also on volume— see Chapter 6) and thus for affecting local societies that depend on a healthy marine CH •X ANG DF E P

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environment. The infrastructure required to support such shipping may include port facilities, search and rescue or emergency response capability, and mechanisms of governance or enforcement, which may include military presence to preserve sovereign claims over certain waters (see Chapter 7). Such facilities may provide employment and other economic opportunity for local communities, but could also lead to social disruption if many people move to small communities to take new jobs. Local shipping, to and from Arctic ports, is likely to have more direct influence on communities. Indeed, local shipping today provides for substantial shipments of cargo and fuel to remote communities, allowing for a higher standard of living and lower prices than would be possible by air or land shipment alone. Longer shipping seasons could reduce prices further, or allow greater access by visitors.

Another form of local shipping is that in support of resource development in the Arctic. Supplying mines, oil and gas installations, and other development sites and transporting the materials that are produced there is the dominant form of marine shipping in the region today. While it is not clear whether reduced sea ice will have a major influence on development trends (e.g., AMAP 2008), increased shipping is unlikely to constrain development. If indeed development increases, it will have far•reaching economic consequences for the regions in which it occurs (e.g., AMAP 2008), and will likely have environmental impacts as well.

In addition to mineral and petroleum extraction, fishing in Arctic waters is likely to increase as a result of greater access to ice•free waters. In , the development of a shrimp fishery has had major impacts on coastal communities and indeed on the national economy, as shrimp constitute a major export from Greenland (e.g., Hamilton et al. 2000, 2003). In Alaska, participation in commercial fisheries has substantial social and economic impacts on communities (e.g., Sepez et al. 2005), implying that increased involvement in fisheries by more northerly communities could have major impacts both positive and negative.

One non•extractive industry likely to benefit from increased shipping access is tourism. For local communities, tourism can be a source of revenue but also a disruption, both from direct (though likely inadvertent) interference with traditional and other activities, and also from greater attention to some local practices that may not conform with the values or expectations of non•Arctic societies (e.g., Snyder and Stonehouse 2007). The presence of large cruise ships and their visits to communities that may have a fraction of the population of the ship itself cannot be ignored. An emergency involving such a ship could easily overwhelm local response capacity. Tourism, like fishing but unlike other forms of shipping, is likely to be focused on some of the same living resources (seabird colonies, marine mammals) that sustain local communities, thus increasing the potential for disruption and conflict.

The local human dimensions of Arctic marine shipping appear to be extensive, but there have been relatively few studies that have considered the implications either of current shipping activities or projections of what is likely to occur in the next few decades (Lamson and VanderZwaag 1988 and VanderZwaag and Lamson 1990 are two CH •X ANG DF E P

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prominent exceptions, but neither takes climate change into account as a major driver of shipping change in the region). This chapter relies on the studies that do exist, or that cover pertinent or analogous topics, as well as new material gathered for the assessment through “town hall meetings” held by Lawson Brigham and Esther Cunningham in various locations throughout the region and at a mapping exercise held in in March 2008.

The chapter begins with a review of human use of the Arctic marine environment, with a few short examples of indigenous uses and interactions with shipping (Section 2). A longer study of Inuit the Canadian Arctic follows, giving an illustration of the depth and breadth of such use (Section 3). The results of the town hall meetings are presented next (Section 4), followed by a review of social and economic impacts from shipping and related activities in the Canadian Arctic (Section 5), and ending with discussion and conclusions (Section 6). This description of human dimensions of Arctic marine shipping is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive, but is intended to demonstrate how and why marine shipping matters to Arctic communities and to consider what additional work is needed to be able to prevent, mitigate, or otherwise manage shipping to reduce negative impacts and maximize potential positive benefits.

2. Human Use of the Arctic Marine Environment The marine environment and marine resources have long sustained Arctic peoples (e.g., Krupnik 1993, McGhee 2005). Fish, seabirds, seals, walrus, and whales supported human populations and the creation of permanent or seasonal settlements at places where food was reliably available. A key feature of the Arctic marine environment is the seasonal presence of sea ice. Specific hunting and fishing practices were developed to make use of ice as a platform and a means of traveling (e.g., George et al. 2004, Gearheard et al. 2006). In open leads and ice•free seasons and regions, Arctic peoples have used boats extensively, too, for fishing, hunting, and travel. The combination of over•ice travel and boat transport allows the use of large areas during much of the year. More recently, as noted above, cargo transport has brought supplies to Arctic communities along coasts and navigable rivers.

Arctic settlement patterns demonstrate a strong marine influence. Settlements established prior to the modern era are typically located where geography and biology combine to provide access to sources of food, even where other conditions may seem unpleasant or unfavorable (e.g., Stuck 1920, describing Point Hope, Alaska). The spread of the Thule Inuit culture from the Bering Strait region across northern Alaska and Canada to Greenland demonstrated the importance of marine resources and the advantages of improved hunting technology (e.g., McGhee 2005).

In recent decades and today, Arctic coastal peoples travel far on sea ice and water, both along coastlines and also out to sea. The Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Study, conducted in Canada in the 1970s, showed that Inuit use vast areas of coastline and seascape, covering much of the Canadian (islands and waters both) apart from CH •X ANG DF E P

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the northwestern portions that are far from any settlements (Freeman 1976; see Section 3). Indeed, the scope of Inuit land use is one basis for over the region (Mills 1988). A data atlas for the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas (NOAA 1988) in Alaska shows human use for local fishing and hunting along nearly the entire coastline, extending in some areas over 50 km from shore. In the Bering Strait, local uses extend from the mainland to the international border with Russia, meaning that any transit in American waters at least will pass through local use areas.

A comprehensive, up•to•date catalog of indigenous use of the Arctic marine environment does not exist. Compilations of data from Canada and Alaska are two to three decades old. Some more recent studies have examined use patterns near individual communities, but even these are few and far between. It is thus impossible to present an overall map or description for the entire Arctic. Section 3 provides a review of older, published information from the Canadian Arctic, supplemented with recent interviews that confirm the continuity of general patterns of use patterns and practices. But specific details are still lacking. Here, we provide instead a few short examples of various uses of the Arctic marine environment and resulting interactions with marine shipping activities in different forms. These examples are intended to illustrate some of the range of potential interactions and effects.

2.1 A container of hazardous materials washes ashore in the Commander Islands, Russia This section was prepared by Victoria Gofman of the Aleut International Association, based on information from WWF•Russia (2003) and personal communication with officials at the local administration in Nikolskoye, Bering Island).

Bering Island, one of the Commander Islands, lies east of the coast of Kamchatka and west of the U.S. territories in the Aleutians. The only Aleut community on Russian soil and the only inhabited village on the Commander Islands is the village of Nikolskoye with about 750 residents, 300 of them Aleuts. Local residents depend heavily on marine resources for subsistence and the local economy. The islands are also enclosed in a protected area called the Commander Biosphere Reserve, as designated by UNESCO. The area is world renowned for its unique marine habitat and has the potential to become a Mecca for tourists and scientists if the islands are more accessible.

In light of the likely increase of shipping through Arctic waters in the coming decades and economic growth in East and Southeast Asia, there is a realistic possibility of an increase in maritime shipping accidents in the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean. These accidents could bring disasters and devastation to communities and cultures that have existed in the region for millennia.

The following is an account of an accident that could serve as a warning sign and an opportunity to examine the Achilles heel in shipping regulation and disaster preparedness, pointing the way toward policy changes to prevent worse disasters. CH •X ANG DF E P

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In July 2003, a 20•tonne container filled with a hazardous chemical used in cement (tetratethylene glycol diheptanoate) washed off the western coast of Bering Island ( Figure 4#2.1.a), near the northwestern fur seal rookery and 15 kilometers from the local fishing grounds. The container was being shipped from South Africa to Korea and was lost at sea in March 2003. According to shipping documentation, the cargo belonged to DuPont Corporation and was transported by a French company.

When the container was discovered on the beach, there was no disaster response plan in place. Individuals who got close to the container to examine it did not have any training in the handling of hazardous materials or necessary equipment and clothes. They got poisoned and needed medical assistance.

The first attempt to move the container away from the area where tidal waves could throw it on the rocks and break it was unsuccessful. The container cracked and the approximately 15 tonnes of the chemical leaked, creating a 400 square meter oily spill. A later survey counted 46 dead birds and one dead seal.

The Anchorage office of the Aleut International Association, after receiving first news of the accident, made a round of calls to maritime attorneys in attempt to find legal counsel for the village of Nilolskoye. Finally a firm with appropriate expertise was located in Juneau, Alaska. A telephone conversation, however, was abruptly interrupted by the news that the firm has been hired to represent DuPont Corporation.

Five years later not much has changed. DuPont provided funds for clean up, environmental assessment, and some emergency response equipment. The nature and size of this work was mostly determined by DuPont itself, because a legal framework for calculating damage in such accidents is vague. The Russian agencies that are responsible for the protection of natural resources on the Commanders, The Kamchatka Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Commander Reserve, and a handful of others, chronically lack resources for routine inspections, research, satellite communication, and equipment to monitor the environmental situation. The district administration is also in a difficult situation due to the same reasons.

This particular accident was small in comparison with, for example, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, but it exposed big problems. Increases in shipping and shipping accidents may spell disaster if the governments fail to agree on preventive measures and a legal system clearly defining responsibilities prior to a shipping boom in high Arctic waters. Remote indigenous communities are especially vulnerable as they risk losing not just their vital resources but the natural foundation of their cultures.

The risk is far from hypothetical. In the Alaska side of the Aleut region, there were 22 oil spills related to shipping between 1985 and 2004, ranging in size from 5400 liters (~4.6 tonnes) to 1.2 million liters (over 1000 tonnes) (Pacific Environment 2006). Some of these accidents, including the MV Selendang Ayu in 2004, the largest spill in the Aleutian Islands to date, are from ships transiting the region on the Great Circle course from East Asia to western North America. This type of trans•shipping may be a significant part of CH •X ANG DF E P

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Arctic marine shipping in the near future, and will likely bring many of the same risks and consequences to the Arctic Basin as are already being felt in the Aleut region. The next section explains why the maritime environment is so important for Aleut communities, a characteristic shared with other Arctic coastal peoples.

2.2 Extent of use of the marine environment by Aleut communities This section is based upon a report prepared by Janice Walton at the Aleut International Association, which in turn was based on publications by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (as cited below) and a survey conducted of the Aleut Tribes in Alaska in spring 2008.

The marine environment is vital for coastal Arctic communities. This is especially true in the Aleut region, where communities are on islands or along the Alaska Peninsula, providing excellent access to the sea but relatively few options on land. As with other data on the extent of marine use by Arctic indigenous communities, the information from the Aleut region is not consistent, comprehensive, and up to date for all communities. Instead, some reports are over a quarter century old, and more recent information does not cover all communities or all species. Nonetheless, tribal representatives confirm that the general pattern of marine use continues today.

Table 4#2.2.a shows the results of surveys concerning traditional harvests in three predominantly Aleut communities in Alaska. Figure 4#2.2.a shows the extent of marine environment use for travel and harvests by residents of Sand Point, Alaska. Other studies have found that the overwhelming majority of households in Aleut communities use birds and eggs. In Nelson Lagoon, 92.3% of households used at least one bird or egg during the study period. In Akutan, the figure was 92.9%, compared with 88.9% in Nikolski and 73% in False Pass (Fall et al. 1998). Sharing of harvested birds and eggs was considered to have great cultural importance in all four communities.

Zenia Borenin, President of the Tribal Council for the Native Village of Akutan, described local use of the marine environment:

the northeast near coastal waters of Akutan Island are important for black bass, chitons, halibut, salmon, razor clams, and sea lions. The southeastern•most near coastal waters is a vital cod and salmon fishing area. There is a sea lion haul out area on the eastern coast of Cape Morgan. A cod and halibut fishing area is located in the near coastal waters northeast of Talus Point. Akutan utilizes the coastal waters around Akun Island as well. Seagull eggs are harvested on the northwest shore of the island (Akun Head), and on the small islands southeast of Akun. Salmon and halibut are taken in the area of Lost Harbor. Halibut is harvested in the near coastal waters southwest of the island, and in several areas east of the island. Salmon are taken in Surf Bay, Trident Bay, and in Akun Bay in the area of Helianthus Cove. Akun Bay is an important area for halibut, crab, cod, octopus, and sea bass. (pers. comm., 2008) CH •X ANG DF E P

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Unalaska, an Aleut community that is co•located with the major fishing port of Dutch Harbor, also has a strong and continuing tradition of harvesting marine resources. Salmon are the most important, but other fish, marine mammals, invertebrates, and birds and eggs are also important contributors to the local diet and sustaining cultural practices (Veltre and Veltre 1982). Similarly, Aleuts in Atka harvest various species, either in the seasons when they are available or throughout the year for species that are always present. Veltre and Veltre (1983:192) note the importance of local knowledge in conducting harvest activities safely and productively:

the men of Atka are especially knowledgeable about Atka and Amlia Islands and the surrounding ocean. Boating in Aleutian waters is particularly dangerous, but the men watch the tides and weather carefully before setting out on trips of any distance. Hunting along the north side of Atka is preferred when the prevailing ocean swells have been coming from a southern direction, while south side hunting is favored with northern swells. Weather forecasts on television and radio are consulted, and there is discussion of the situation by those making plans.

On the Pribilof Islands, salmon are of lesser importance because the islands are not on the migratory path of those fish (Veltre and Veltre 1981). Instead, halibut and cod are the primary fishes harvested, with sculpin also taken, particularly for elders. Here, fur seals and Steller sea lions are highly important resources, so that the marine mammal harvests on the Pribilofs are far higher than in other Aleut communities. Fisheries here are typically done offshore, requiring a substantial investment in a boat and related equipment to start with, and then high operating costs each year.

On the Commander Islands in Russia, fishing and seal hunting are essential components of the local economy, with formally designated fishing areas and seasons to govern the allocation and take of salmon (N.P. Nikolayevich, Director, State Natural Biosphere Reserve of Komandorskiy, pers. comm., 2008).

2.3 Beaufort Sea beluga whales: local and distant effects of shipping The topic of this section was identified at a workshop on Chapter 4, held in Ottawa in March 2008, with participation from four Permanent Participants and others associated with AMSA. The workshop was funded by the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The section was written by Henry Huntington and Norm Snow, the latter of whom participated in the workshop on behalf of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

The Beaufort Sea population of beluga whales, numbering in the tens of thousands, migrates through the waters of Canada, Alaska, and Russia, in areas where current and potential shipping activity is high. This population is hunted in all three regions (Adams et al. 1993, Huntington et al. 1999, Mymrin et al. 1999), and as such illustrates well the various ways that shipping activities can affect marine mammals and their hunters, both directly and through interaction with other environmental changes. CH •X ANG DF E P

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Despite the name of the population, the belugas are found in winter in the northern waters of the Bering Sea (O’Corry•Crowe et al. 1997; Figure 4#2.4.a). This area is covered with seasonal sea ice. In spring, the whales migrate northward through the Bering Strait, traveling through open leads in the sea ice or finding breathing holes amid broken or thin ice. Their migration takes them past several Alaska communities, where some animals may be hunted prior to the hunt for the bowhead whale. Once past Barrow, Alaska, the belugas move eastwards to Canadian waters. The whales are hunted in various locations in or near the Mackenzie Delta and at Paulatuk to the east. After a short time in the Delta, the female belugas move farther east into Amundsen Gulf while males go northward past Banks Island to M’Clure Strait and Viscount Melville Sound. In fall, the whales head westward past Alaska and across the Chukchi Sea to the Russian coastline. Here, they turn to the southeast and down through the Bering Strait again. A few animals are hunted each year in Russia.

During this migration, Beaufort Sea belugas traverse several areas where shipping may be a major presence. The Bering Strait is of course a crucial chokepoint for any transarctic shipping. While sea ice in spring may limit the use of this area at that time of year, thinning ice and great demand for shipping may lead to increased use and longer seasons. In fall, the belugas migrate southwards before or during freeze•up, perhaps with greater overlap with shipping activities.

The Mackenzie Delta, particularly the eastern edge near Tuktoyaktuk Harbour (the first viable deep•water port north and east of the Bering Strait), already sees considerable summer barge traffic from vessels descending the Mackenzie to resupply communities on the Arctic coast (see Section 5 for further discussion about Tuktoyaktuk Harbour). In the 1970s and 1980s, the harbor was the logistical hub for offshore oil and gas exploration in the region, a role it is likely to play again in the near future. While the belugas seek the relatively warm waters of the Delta at this time of year for a short period, they will be in proximity to extensive vessel traffic in nearshore waters.

Their subsequent migration to Amundsen Gulf and (M’Clure Strait and Viscount Melville Sound) places them in the western end of the through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, subject yet again to shipping activity. In Amundsen Gulf, there is already barge traffic and, recently, a few ships traversing the Northwest Passage. As ice thins and shipping demand grows, more ships are likely to go through this area, and some may also take the more northerly route through Barrow Strait.

As noted in regard to Tuktoyaktuk Harbour (see Section 5), offshore oil and gas activities are likely to be a major driver of vessel traffic in most if not all the entire migratory range of the Beaufort Sea beluga population. Most shipping activity will occur in summer and fall, when sea ice is sparse or absent, but drilling and production will take place year• round. The impacts on beluga migration are not clear, but may include displacement, possibly making them less accessible to hunting communities. An oil spill at the wrong time and location during the spring migration could affect a substantial portion of the CH •X ANG DF E P

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Beaufort Sea beluga population. Moreover, exposure to oil by belugas may result in tainted meat and blubber, affecting its quality as food and thus the harvest by Arctic communities in the region.

Transarctic shipping through the Bering Strait or Northwest Passage introduces the potential for spills of fuel or cargo, as well as collisions between ships and beluga whales. There is also the potential, especially from nearshore shipping, for interference with hunting activities, either by displacing the whales or by making it difficult or dangerous for small hunting boats to reach the whales.

A backdrop to all of these potential impacts is climate change, which is also one of the drivers of increased shipping and offshore exploration and development. Climate change may affect many aspects of beluga ecology, from prey availability to habitat to exposure to disease. The net effects are hard to predict, but belugas are adapted to an Arctic environment. Climate change is leading towards a subarctic environment in the Beaufort Sea range, and subarctic beluga populations have struggled to remain viable to date.

In summary, increased shipping may affect the Beaufort Sea beluga population in several parts of their migratory range, perhaps exacerbating impacts from offshore oil and gas development as well as climate change. Shipping may also interfere with hunting activities and opportunity, compounding any effects at the level of the beluga population. Further work is needed to examine exactly where and when shipping will overlap with hunting and with key stages of the beluga migration. This information can be used to develop specific management and mitigation plans, perhaps including limitations on shipping to protect belugas and those who hunt them.

In addition to local initiatives, a broader management plan is required to address impacts in one region that may affect other regions. For example, a disaster in the Bering Strait could affect hunters in the Mackenzie Delta, two thousand kilometers away, undermining any conservation efforts they have made in their area.

2.4. Where the Gulf Stream freezes – reflections from the Kola Coast This essay and the following one, both by Tero Mustonen, reflect on ten years of research in Russian Arctic communities, conducted as part of the Snowchange Cooperative. They draw on personal experiences as well as extensive collaboration with many colleagues in Russia.

The Russian Arctic coast begins on the Kola Peninsula, at the northwestern extreme of the Russian Federation. The Gulf Stream’s influence ends here, close to the “City of Heroes,” Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. As one walks on the cold shores of Kola Bay, all of the complexities of the Russian Arctic coast are present in the view that opens to us. The sheer expanse of this coastline is hard to grasp. The area contains many indigenous communities as well as more recent human settlements. Shipping is but one of the many aspects of history here, one of the many factors shaping CH •X ANG DF E P

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today and tomorrow. No single essay can reflect all of the diverse opportunities and challenges present along the thousands of kilometers that mark the boundary between the and the Eurasian continent.

Murmansk was a bustling seaport during the Soviet era, when at the height of the cold war it was the fishing capital of Northern Russia as well as the closest territory to NATO that Soviet Russia possessed. The region contains the greatest concentration of nuclear weapons in the world and is the home port of Atomflot, Russia’s nuclear powered icebreaker fleet, as well as the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet. Murmansk is the starting point of the Severnyi Morskoi Put – the Northern Sea Route. Today, one million people live on the Kola Peninsula, where an economic boom is based on the premises of a future built on new opportunities for exploiting natural resources, both off•shore and on•shore. The Murmansk Region is as well home to about 2,000 Saami, who despite colonization and displacement at the height of the Stalin Era, continue their subsistence and age•old culture in the inland parts of the Peninsula.

When looking at the Kola Bay and the coast beyond along the Northern Sea Route all the way to Chukotka and beyond to the Orient, questions come to mind – whose seascapes, whose coasts, whose ocean is here? How much people from outside understand it and can dwell in it? When the arctic tern flies here in the breeze and waves break, do people still feel it? The power, the ocean, the life, the dispatches of the cold seas?

In the Murmansk Region, history has been witnessed, lived, forgotten, suppressed, remembered, and altered. Kola Bay, with its nuclear fleets, is poised to be the jumping off point for Arctic opportunities of shipping and mineral development. Yet, it was also along here where the Viking Chief Ottar sailed, around the year 1000, and witnessed the peoples and traditions of Bjarmia, the legendary and mythical land of the Karelian• speaking sea power. Here is the home coast of the Saami Indigenous peoples, especially the summer harvesting areas of the Skolt Nation who prior to Russian arrival had an intimate relationship with the ocean for thousands of years. Each of Kola Bay’s rocks, cliffs, and hills has a Saami name, a song, and a story to tell about how the world is, was, and will be. It is here where later the Finns, Russians, Scandinavians, Nenets, and others arrived to live and work, to harvest from the Arctic Ocean. The early Russians, the Pomors, or People of the Sea, are considered almost indigenous to the territories of Murmansk and Archangelsk. Many of the Russian Pomor villages along the Archangelsk Coast along the White Sea are seal•hunting and fishing subsistence communities accessible only by air or sea, where Russian folksongs, wooden architecture, and old• fashioned dialects persist.

So the Kola coast is a smaller version of the multi•faceted, complex, and layered coastal landscape and seascape that is the Russian Arctic coast today. In the coastal and northern peripheral communities of the Russian North today, it is possible to see the long human history along the cold waters of the longest coastline in the world. This precious, fragile coastline is also the least•disturbed continuous string of coastal ecosystems in the Arctic, despite site•specific environmental impacts, most of them dating to Soviet times. For some reason, however, history seems to have been lost to the minds of contemporary CH •X ANG DF E P

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decision makers and multinational companies. It seems that even recent history has been forgotten. At the harbor of Murmansk sits the Lepse, the ship that contains much of the liquid nuclear waste that the nuclear submarine fleet and the Atomflot icebreakers have produced. The Lepse is overfilled and unstable. Yet international negotiations, interventions by non•governmental organizations, and many other efforts have not solved this ecological time bomb. Most of the civilian population does not even know the existence of the Lepse at their doorstep.

Similarly, many of the outsiders and enthusiasts who rush to the Russian seaways have forgotten already about August 2000 and the Kursk, the nuclear powered submarine that sank during military exercises off the Kola coast taking the lives of the 118 sailors with it. Today as most of the interest in Kola is focused on the development of the offshore Shtokmanovskaya Fields containing several million cubic meters of natural gas and possibly oil, people rarely stop to remember. This act of remembering is crucial today along Russian Arctic Coast. It is a time of transformation in the many histories of the area. In Kola, we can ask, whose stories do we validate? Whose stories we should remember and listen to?

With a little bit of respect, we can open ourselves to understand the complex and proud history presented to us by Russian sailors and members of the Northern Fleet as they recall the missions of the past, such as the great nuclear•powered journey to the by the nuclear icebreaker Arktika in 1977. We might listen to the stories of British and Canadian sailors as they remember the convoys to Murmansk during the last war this region saw and how German U•boats were always a threat. We might explore the “hidden” Murmansk with the small cemetery for the allied sailors who died in defense and survival of this City of Heroes, the designation Murmansk received after World War II. We might listen to a Bureaucrat or non•governmental organization activist in the lobby of the Polarnyi Zori Hotel, who will tell of the vast, uncontrolled ecological threat that this region poses.

We might listen to the Norwegian businessman who explains how much we will all benefit when the Shtokmanovskaya Fields are finally open and available. We might hear from a Russian engineer about the new floating nuclear power stations that will be constructed in Severodvinsk ship yard of the Archangelsk Region to make sure that Russian can maintain “its territorial claims” in the Arctic waters. We might listen to the sorrow of the mother of a sailor who died aboard Kursk. We might listen to the Skolt Saami grandmother who still remembers the time before time, as all of this was made …

As a part of the time of transformation, the Kola Saami are witnessing a painful rebirth of their culture and nation. Never since the Stalin Era has there been so much attention to the Saami issues. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union they can now collaborate with the Saami in neighboring countries, they can participate in the and influence, for example, the development of marine and ocean policies. Alexander Kobalev was the first Russian Saami President of the Saami Council, which belongs to the Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples at the . Even though the seasonal salmon harvest along the fjords of Kola is over and seals are no longer harvested CH •X ANG DF E P

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by the Kola Saami, many Elders still remember the sites, places, and songs of the Kola coast. They remember the yearly cycle of the ocean, birds, fish, and other beings.

The Kola Saami have views on the development of offshore natural resources. They are afraid that the increased shipping and construction of new pipelines will ruin the remaining wilderness areas of Kola. Atlantic salmon spawning rivers, such as the Ponoi, are crucial subsistence areas for the Saami and are their productivity is directly related to the ecological status of the Russian portion of Arctic Ocean. The Kola Saami have chosen to voice their observations about coastal changes and weather changes by participating in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA 2005) and similar research (e.g., Zavalko et al. 2004). They are addressing international companies such who are driving the economic boom of the Murmansk Region and are trying to enter into the wilderness parts of the Peninsula to mine gold, platinum, and other minerals. In this time of transformations, the Kola Saami have chosen to participate in the process impacting on them to make sure that the people of the Sun Deer will be here now and forever.

2.5 From land to sea, sea to land: influences of nuclear lighthouses in northern Russia The presence of nuclear•powered marine equipment and ships presents the most urgent site•specific environmental danger along the Russian Arctic coast today. There are the nuclear icebreakers of Atomflot, the nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet of Russian Navy, and the nuclear•powered power stations in Bilibino in Chukotka and Polarnyi Zori on the Kola Peninsula. While these and their impacts are reasonably well known, the impacts from nuclear•powered lighthouses along the length of Northern Sea Route have received less attention. Nonetheless, they exemplify the potential secondary effects on land of shipping activities offshore.

The indigenous obschina or ancestral community of Nutendli, inhabited by Chukchi and Yukagir reindeer herders, is located at the northeastern corner of the Sakha Republic, in the Kolyma River Delta. Chukchi reindeer herder and traditional singer Vyacheslav Kemlil is the leader of Nutendli. The territory of this Indigenous community borders Chukotka. It is located at roughly 69 degrees north . The northern border of the reindeer territory is the Arctic Ocean. The coastal zone is the summer reindeer herding area of Nutendli and the community has its subsistence fish camp in Šalavurova.

Since 2004, Nutendli has worked with the Snowchange Cooperative based in Finland to document community•based oral histories regarding land use, climate change, traditional knowledge, language, and reindeer herding. One of the topics of concern has been the presence of nuclear powered lighthouses along the reindeer•herding route of Nutendli brigades. Two or three lighthouses are in close proximity to the summer pastures used by the community.

Vyacheslav Kemlil reports that fences surround the lighthouses and that there are warning signs in Russian indicating that people should not approach these sites. Especially during the polar night from November to January, the beams of the CH •X ANG DF E P

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lighthouses are visible for long distances to the herders ( Figure. 4#2.6.a). The signs indicate as well that there is a health hazard if these sites are approached. Mr. Kemlil has warned his fellow herders not to approach the lighthouse zone. The herders suspect that the site contains high levels of radiation.

Mr. Kemlil reports that his community thinks that lichen absorbs radiation easily. Therefore it would be dangerous to allow the reindeer to eat food close to the coastal lighthouses. The community has now imposed a kilometre•wide avoidance zone around the lighthouses to minimize risks and to prevent the reindeer from getting ill. Mr. Kemlil says that the nuclear material itself is located underground. He says that dead carcasses of arctic fox, ducks, geese, and ptarmigan have been seen at the very close proximity of the lighthouse along the Nutendli route. There is a suspicion that the radioactive materials of the lighthouses are leaking and affecting the local ecosystem.

Krashnushka is the base camp of the Nutendli community. It serves as the supply base for the nomadic reindeer brigade and hosts the community nomadic school constructed in 2002. A local resident once suggested that the power system from a nuclear lighthouse be brought to Krashnushka to power its electrical system, in order to achieve energy independence. The Nutendli community declined to pursue this idea.

The Nutendli example is but one of many cases in which indigenous coastal residents are affected by nuclear•powered lighthouses along the Russian coast. These lighthouses still provide guidance for ships transiting the Northern Sea Route as well as those entering local harbours along the way. Yet they have not been adequately maintained and therefore are unreliable as navigational devices, in addition to posing and environmental threat. The absence of reliable information concerns local residents, who do not know if their actions to avoid the sites are unnecessary or insufficient. The future of Arctic shipping may not depend on these lighthouses, but they remain as a tangible reminder of the history of Arctic shipping and the hazards that local residents may face if they have little information and no voice in what occurs in the areas where they live.

3. “The Sea Ice Is Our Highway”: an Inuit Perspective on Transportation in the Arctic This section was contributed by the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada, on behalf of the 155,000 Inuit living in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia, to give voice to the Inuit. Chester Reimer and Patricia Wiebe of CRC Inc. prepared the report based on existing publications supplemented with interviews with Inuit in March 2008. The Canadian Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development provided funding and support.

3.1 Introduction This section is important because it gives voice to Inuit, who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years, sustaining and being sustained by the unique animals, fish, and fowl found here. Governments and industry have for decades used this same Arctic for their CH •X ANG DF E P

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own benefit. Sometimes they consult with us. In contrast to such consultations, this report comes on the initiative of ICC Canada and is intended to frame the dialogue from an Inuit perspective, to discuss the issues related to land and sea ice use as we see them. From this discussion, the reader will come to learn how ice is central to how we have moved in the past and continue to move in the present.

3.1.1 The Arctic The first distinction of an Inuit view of the Arctic is our definition of the term Arctic itself. Within Canada, Inuit view the Arctic as the places where Inuit have traditionally lived. These areas are the four land claims regions: Nunatsiavut along the coast of Labrador, Nunavik in Northern , the entire territory of , and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region along the northern coast and around the northern islands of the . Other indigenous peoples also live in the , but because they are impacted less by shipping than are Inuit, their views are not covered in this report. The Arctic also includes all of Greenland, much of Alaska, from the North Slope Borough down the Bering coast, and much of Russia, certainly including the region of Chukotka across the Bering Strait from Alaska. These regions where Inuit live are all part of the Arctic according to our view.

The Arctic also includes the northern portions of Finland, Sweden and where the Saami live, as well as the northern parts of Russia where nearly forty different indigenous peoples live. Our Arctic is increasingly the focus of attention from many outside interests, the latest of which is the shipping industry.

3.1.2 The Land When defining our “land”, Inuit do not distinguish between the ground upon which our communities are built and the sea ice upon which we travel, hunt, and build igloos as temporary camps. Land is anywhere our feet, dog teams, or snowmobiles can take us.

3.1.3 Scope of the Section This section is a scoping level investigation focusing on Inuit use of sea ice. It looks at existing sources of information regarding land use and occupancy to extract the highlights regarding sea ice, augmenting this with responses from interviews with Inuit hunters, and using additional studies from Alaska and Greenland to provide a pan•Inuit perspective. The section will not provide comprehensive data on current Inuit use of sea ice, as such information is not yet available. The section includes general predictions about the future in light of climate change and reduced sea ice based on the experience and traditional knowledge of the Inuit hunters interviewed, but these predictions are not directed to specific target dates such as those used by other parts of AMSA.

The central idea of this section is that life in the Arctic is dependent on movement, and that sea ice is integral to this movement. The Inuit have been a nomadic people living in the Arctic since ancient times. As such, our entire culture and identity is based on free movement on the land. Indeed, we rely on free movement in order to eat, first of all, and CH •X ANG DF E P

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also to obtain supplies for traditional clothing and art as well as to maintain pride in our rich cultural heritage. We also temporarily move out from our settlements to harvest resources that we sometimes barter or trade. As this section will show, much of this movement takes place on the sea ice that surrounds and connects our communities. Because the goal of this section is to give voice to Inuit perspectives and concerns regarding the impact of changes in the Arctic, the text will include many direct quotations from interviews with Inuit. Many of the Inuit interviewed for this section emphasized the importance of the sea in their everyday lives, and were very concerned that their voices be heard by the people whose decisions will affect their culture and livelihoods. The use of direct quotes is our means of presenting these concerns to a wider public.

3.2. Our Nomadic Tradition

3.2.1 The Four Stages of Inuit History According to the studies compiled in the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Report of 1976, Arctic historians and archeologists have found that Inuit populations have inhabited the Arctic for about 4000 years (Freeman 1976), in nearly the same regions as they do today. This history began with the Pre•Dorset, Paleo•Eskimo people who lived in the Arctic starting around 2000 BC, then continued with the Dorset people who lived in Greenland starting in 1000 BC and in the Canadian Arctic from 500 BC, then on to the Thule people whose variation of Eskimo culture originated in what is now Alaska and spread across the Canadian Arctic to Greenland, all the way to the present•day Inuit. Historians and archeologists tell us that the cultural similarities seen in the prehistoric artifacts and the physical similarities discovered through the unearthing of ancient graves indicate a clear progression from the pre•Dorset, Paleo•Eskimo people through to today's Inuit.

Archeological findings from the Paleo•Eskimo era show that virtually the whole Arctic region from Chukotka to Greenland was inhabited by people with a common culture. They have found common tools adapted to the Arctic tundra in the region from the southeast coast of Siberia “across northern Alaska, the central Canadian Arctic and the eastern Arctic islands to Greenland” and “as far as northeastern and southwestern Greenland, Ungava peninsula in northern Quebec, and down through the Barren Lands and the west coast of to Churchill, Manitoba” (Taylor 1976). Though the groups who lived in this vast region had slight regional variations, they are similar enough that archeologists call them all the Arctic Small Tool tradition. The nature and location of the remains of their camps indicate that they lived in “small, widely scattered, nomadic bands, moving seasonally to exploit various game resources. They used toggling harpoons, spears, lances, and bows and arrows in hunting caribou and seals.” It appears they also fished extensively and hunted bears, wolves, musk•oxen and walruses (Taylor 1976).

The Dorset culture moved quite clearly out of this pre•Dorset, Arctic Small Tool tradition. The Dorset culture, which existed from 800 BC to 1300 AD, stretched from Bernard Harbour and Melville Island in the west to eastern Greenland and the northwest part of Labrador in the east. Like the Paleo•Eskimo people, the Dorset people “lived in CH •X ANG DF E P

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small seasonally•nomadic bands with little camps of skin tents in summer, sheltering in winter in small clusters of partly•underground pit houses” (Taylor 1976). The Dorset people apparently also used snow•houses and may in fact have invented them. The tools and weapons found in Dorset archeological sites indicate they hunted a variety of sea mammals, birds, and caribou, and also fished extensively. Following the tradition of the pre•Dorset culture, they used soapstone blubber•burning lamps for heat, light, cooking, and drying clothing, a tradition which was later carried on by the Thule and Inuit people.

The Dorset people were gradually displaced by the Thule people between 900 and 1300 AD as the Thule people slowly drifted over from Alaska across the Canadian Arctic all the way to Greenland. These two cultures were similar in many ways and learned from each other during the time they co•existed. However, the Thule culture was more effectively adapted to the Arctic because the people possessed dog•teams that allowed them to travel over greater distances more easily and they had developed a full range of gear for hunting the great baleen whales, which afforded them a major food supply not available to the Dorset people (Taylor 1976). The prominence of the whale hunt is the primary distinguishing feature of the Thule era.

The most recent stage in Inuit history began in the 18 th century with the people known as the Central Eskimo. This culture followed directly from the Thule culture, using virtually the same hunting equipment, modes of transportation, clothing, and even toys as the Thule people did. The primary differences between the Thule period and the Central Eskimo period came about because of the collapse of the baleen whale hunt. Without this major source of food, the Central Eskimo people abandoned the villages of sturdy winter houses from the Thule era for a more nomadic life dependent on the scattered herds of seals and walruses. During this time “there was a gradual shift to the snow•house on the sea ice as the customary winter residence” (Taylor 1976).

Today's Inuit continue to benefit from this rich ancestry, knowing that for thousands of years our forefathers have gone before us and passed on the traditions that still help us today. Said one Inuk (singular form of “Inuit”) from , Nunavut:

We live here because our ancestors did before us. If they had not lived here, I don't know what we'd do, we wouldn't have anything. They tried hard to hunt animals in order to live – that's why we are living. Those old places are easy to spot. I've been to many places by dog•team in the direction of and others, where you would have thought no people have ever been before. I've seen rocks piled one on top of the other. They were fixed like that by Inuit. They are everywhere. (quoted in Brody 1976)

Ipiak, another Inuk from Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut put it this way:

Even when you go to a place you thought was empty, there is always something that tells you that people were there. (quoted in Brody 1976) CH •X ANG DF E P

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3.2.2 Travellers and Nomads As indicated in this brief overview of Inuit history, Inuit have always relied on hunting for subsistence, a way of life that requires a great deal of movement in order to follow the migratory patterns of the wildlife and sea mammals in the region. Because the game and sea mammals in the Arctic ecosystem are highly transient – take the mysterious annual migration of the caribou, for example – we Inuit have adopted a nomadic lifestyle for much of our history. Evalak from Hall Beach said it well:

The game never moved around in only one area. In some years the people occupy some parts of the land, and at other times they occupy another part of the land. (quoted in Brody 1976)

Although most Inuit in Chukotka, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland now live in settlements, the traditional knowledge still passed down from our elders to our children continues to reflect this nomadic tradition:

My father taught me how to make my gear by letting me make toys for myself that would eventually become real things as I grew older. The next step in my training as a hunter was when my father started to take me on actual trips by dog team. ... My father lectured me on how some day my livelihood would depend on hunting, as well as on other people. And he also told me that this was the one and only way to earn my living, and he told me to watch carefully and do as he did. I went to distant places by dog•team and boat. As I became older, I started making trips on my own, in the area where my father had taught me. (Koveyook Natsiapik, Broughton Island, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

Much of the traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation is meant to hone the skills necessary for hunting and fishing. In order to hunt and fish safely and effectively in the Arctic, we train our young people to recognize different types of ice and to know the dangers associated with different seasons – for example, where the ice is likely to be thin at different times of year, or the signs that the edge of the ice might break off and leave a person stranded on an ice fracture that is rapidly drifting away. One traditional method for testing thin ice involves stabbing the ice two or three feet ahead with a stick with a piece of iron attached to the bottom of it. If the stick goes through the ice, this is a warning to backtrack and find another route, but if the ice feels solid, it is safe to gradually move forward. Inuit hunters spend much of their time out on the ice, mostly in small groups or even alone; therefore, reliable knowledge of the ice can be a matter of life and death.

Part of travelling on the ice, sometimes over long distances, is the ability to navigate based on landmarks that the untrained eye might not perceive and the untrained memory might not be capable of archiving over long time periods. The Inuit language for describing and naming places has made such travel possible for thousands of years. This quote from a Pelly Bay hunter is illustrative: CH •X ANG DF E P

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All the lakes where you can find fish or caribou have names. That is the only way we can travel. The one way we can recognize lakes is by their names. ... The names of places, of camps and of lakes are all important to us, for that is the way we travel – with names. ... Most of the names you come across when travelling are very old. Our ancestors named them because that is where they traveled. (Dominique Tunglik, Pelly Bay, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

Out on the sea where there are fewer landmarks, and the features of the ice may change from year to year, traditional knowledge teaches hunters how to navigate using the sun, wind, and stars. A skilled navigator can use the ridges in the snow like a compass based on which direction the prevailing winds come from at that time of year. Additionally, he can use the location of the sun, or in the long Arctic nights, the stars, to deduce what direction he is travelling in. Another more widely•known navigation aid is the inukshuk, rocks piled up to resemble a person, which acts as a marker for passers•by. In these ways and others, traditional knowledge enables us to travel over great distances without losing our way.

When a trip requires an overnight stay, or when a sudden storm or other setback leaves a traveller stranded on the ice, the traditional means of finding shelter is to build an igloo. Igloos are no longer used as seasonal shelter as they were in the recent past – several hunters interviewed for this report described growing up in igloos – but a seasoned hunter still knows how to build them and will do so if the situation requires it. Because igloos can be built quite quickly as shelter, they are an invaluable technology for the travelling Inuit, even today.

Also necessary for a long trip in the harsh Arctic climate is warm clothing. Inuit traditional knowledge passed down through the generations includes instruction on how to dry and stretch the skins of the animals harvested for food in order to make warm boots, pants, parkas, and mittens out of them. For example, caribou skins are often used for parkas, while sealskin is used for boots because it is waterproof when prepared correctly.

All of this traditional knowledge, much of it at the very core of the Inuit way of life, has been developed and passed down in order to impart the knowledge of a nomadic people to its future generations. We Inuit recognize that movement will always be a necessary part of life in the Arctic and therefore do our best to prepare our young people for that reality.

3.3. Moving to Follow the Game

3.3.1 Continued Importance of Traditional Diet One thing that has remained most constant in Inuit life since the mid 1970s when Milton Freeman's team of researchers combed the area then called the Northwest Territories, and Carol Brice•Bennett's team studied the Labrador region, is the centrality of “country food” to the Inuit diet. As in the former days when meat, fish, and blubber were the CH •X ANG DF E P

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dietary staples, augmented seasonally by berries and wildfowl eggs, Inuit today still rely heavily on foods obtained through hunting and gathering.

Interviews done by the land use and occupancy researchers in the mid 1970s evoked numerous responses stressing the importance of hunting and the traditional Inuit diet. A selection of statements is reproduced here:

I can't stand it (store•bought food). We were brought up living off the country, and we don't like to eat the food that you buy from the stores steady, you know. It's alright for two, three days; a week maybe. (Charlie Gruben, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, quoted in Brody 1976)

We like our land, we like our natural foods. They give us the freedom to do what we want, the kind of life we like to live. Our culture we'll never forget. To keep our culture, we got to keep our land and have it free from being developed, so we'd kind of like to protect the land where we trap and hunt all our lives. (Sam Raddi, Inuvik, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, quoted in Brody 1976)

There are all kinds of animals... Inuit have been living here for a long time, and some people live only on game, and some have done so for many years. That is why we want to protect the land. (Lucassie Inuktaluk, , Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

Interviewer: Is it possible that people will gradually do less and less hunting? Young family man from , Nunavut: No, I do not think so. Right now many people in Arctic Bay work in the white way, either here or in other places. But they still hunt. Look at me. I have a job here, but I go out hunting. I was out yesterday. People here will always want real food, and for that reason alone we are all hunters. We'll always be hunters. ... For the young as well as for adults, to be an Inuk is inseparable from being in touch with the land and from the possession of the technical skills and moral qualities that make such contact both possible and valuable. All Inuit agree that the land is the mainstay of their life. Even in the most wage•oriented families, local foods are valued and sought above all others. And it is, of course, the young who must be relied upon to maintain the supply of local foods so that the people may continue to be Inuit. (quoted in Brody 1976)

I think and sometimes speak the thought that my children should eat well from the land. This is what I want to pass on to my descendants: good food from the land, caribou and fish. The land makes you live well and be healthy. (Rosia Paulla, , Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

Interviews conducted by ICC Canada in March 2008 indicate that despite the increased difficulty in finding and harvesting big game and sea mammals due to thinning and less predictable sea ice, Inuit communities are persistent in maintaining their traditional diets. When asked whether changes in ice conditions were affecting their traditional diets, respondents spoke of having to travel further or in a different month than usual; they CH •X ANG DF E P

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spoke of dietary substitutions such as hunting more musk•oxen when the caribou migration shifted away from their area, or they explained how melting permafrost has made the natural ice cellars used to age and store meat less effective. Not one of them said anything to suggest they were giving up on hunting despite the considerable challenges some were facing in getting out on the ice and land.

When asked how his life might change because of poorer ice conditions in the future, Tommy Qaqqasiq from , Nunavut said:

Then we'll use other equipment. People will still hunt. It's part of our life. When things change, you just have to go with it. (14 March 2008)

This sentiment was echoed by Frank Pokiak from Tuktoyaktuk in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, who said:

I'm still going to depend on harvesting, different species if it has to be. The majority of my food I still get from the land, I still depend on all the fish that we get and different ways to prepare it. Whale meat and seal meat, geese. You just change with the changes, I guess. I'll still be here. As long as I'm alive I'll keep doing what I'm doing. (28 March 2008)

After describing in detail how climate change is forcing his community to deal with new challenges, John Keogak of Sachs Harbour shared this idea on how he can continue his harvesting practices:

A buddy of mine is into making little sleds out of aluminum, which you can use as a little kayak or boat. If you're out on the ice and you have to cross an open lead or something you can use that. It's one of the things that can help. I'm going to get one of those. It's combined as a little sleigh and, if you have to, you can use it as a boat. That's one way I can adapt. (13 March 2008)

These responses illustrate that no matter how hard things get, we Inuit are not giving up on hunting. Even though climate change may prove to be the most difficult adaptation challenge we Inuit have ever faced, we will do whatever it takes to keep eating our traditional food.

3.3.2 Harvesting What the Land Provides Because we are determined to maintain our traditional diet – and in fact we need to eat harvested meat due to the high cost of store•bought meat, in addition to the cultural reasons for doing so – it follows that there will be continued reliance on hunting, or harvesting as it is commonly known. Since traditional Inuit foods are rarely sold in stores, they must be obtained by hunters who criss•cross the land and sea around their communities, regularly travelling hours and sometimes days to track down the wildlife and harvest what is needed for their families and communities. CH •X ANG DF E P

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This does not mean that all Inuit hunt – though most able•bodied men and some women do. And those who hunt often have other employment. For example, many hunters in the Canadian Inuit settlement regions have at least part•time or seasonal wage employment in addition to hunting (Poppel et al. 2007). Indeed, interview respondents lamented that high fuel costs to run snowmobiles have in some cases made it necessary to engage in wage employment in order to finance hunting expeditions. Along these lines, Inuit in northern Greenland have moved toward a division of labor in order to supply their communities with traditional country food. A substantial portion of the harvest is done by Inuit who are licensed professional hunters and sell their products to Inuit households in open•air markets (Poppel et al. 2007).

Nevertheless, the hunt continues. We Inuit keep on adapting to the new economic environment in ways that sustain our connection to the land and the harvest it provides.

3.3.3 General Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Patterns With few exceptions, Inuit settlements are located on sea coasts or on major waterways with easy access to the sea. This clearly reflects the importance of the sea to our Inuit way of life. Whether thickly frozen or open for the summer, the sea is our primary means of transportation. The usually ice•covered sea is our highway, the only physical connection between many of our communities and the only way we can access many of the animals we depend on for food (Figure 4#3.3.3.a).

The ability to move freely over long distances is foundational to hunting in the Arctic because the animals we hunt are constantly on the move.

Game always moves around. It is the way animals live... It has long been known that game have a way of searching for food, so they are always moving. Birds search for other birds. Sea animals search for food. So the seals are kept moving by other sea animals, searching for food. If sea animals did not search for food, maybe we would not have any seals! (Qayadjuak, Hall Beach, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

[Jar seals] are moving around all the time. They don't stay in one area all of the time. You probably could see about 100 seals outside of Hopedale this week. Maybe there's no seal in Makkovik. Maybe about a couple of weeks after, someone gets a nice bunch of seals up in Makkovik. They would be some of the same flock of seals moving forth and back. (George Lane, Hopedale, Nunatsiavut, quoted in Brice• Bennett 1977)

Like the hunters who know their way, polar bears depend on ice for their seasonal movements. Each year, beginning in midwinter and continuing into spring, bears move northward, following the shore ice and the floe edge. Because they also depend on killing seals on the sea ice, the location of bears is as variable as the ice conditions (Brody 1976). CH •X ANG DF E P

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At the appropriate times each season, Inuit hunters set out to find these animals as their migrations bring them through their area. Some communities are lucky to have a favorable cove for whales, a feeding ground for caribou, or a nesting area for wild birds nearby. Others must travel further away to find these sources of food. Some communities live in places where the floe edge – the point at which the sea ice stops and the open water begins, and generally the best place to find sea mammals – is an hour away from shore. Others must travel three or four hours to reach it. As one might expect, these harvest conditions fluctuate from year to year, largely dependent on the weather. This is why we Inuit must be ready to travel long distances if necessary.

From time to time, disaster strikes and a community must completely alter its subsistence pattern in order to survive. For example, the community of Read Island near in western Nunavut had enjoyed excellent access to caribou herds that crossed the Dolphin and Union Strait to reach for the summer. Shortly after the rifle was introduced in the region, the caribou stopped crossing the strait. The caribou migration pattern changed and the community went from regular, easy access to caribou to having none at all in their vicinity. The Read Islanders adjusted by switching to a smaller caribou variety that could still be found reasonably nearby, by making longer journeys to the mainland to harvest caribou there, and by trading with neighboring communities in order to obtain skins used to make clothing, boats, and so on (Farquharson 1976).

Another very difficult time was the year when an unseasonably late rain fell on Banks Island in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Rain fell late in October, forming a thick layer of ice that covered all the ground vegetation normally eaten by the musk•ox herd. More than 20,000 musk•oxen were wiped out, eliminating the main source of winter food for the community of Sachs Harbour. John Keogak described the event this way:

In 2004 we had a big die•off of musk•ox because of a late rainfall in October. After it had snowed, it rained for a whole day. That created a big thick layer of ice. We had musk•ox trying to leave the island and falling through the ice, some were dying of starvation. All of their food was under ice. That was a bad year. (13 March 2008)

In a tough year it may be possible to mitigate the lack of large game or whales by taking more geese or ducks, ptarmigans, fish, or other small game available in the region. In general, however, unexpected difficulties in the hunt for big game mean hunters must search further and further away until they manage to find enough big game or sea mammals to sustain the community until the next hunting season. This was the case in Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik recently:

This past year we had a really hard time finding caribou. We travelled all over and didn't find any. We ended up going over to the island, which we never do, but finally there we managed to catch a caribou. It was really affecting our community already. (Pitseolak Panguartuq, 15 March 2008) CH •X ANG DF E P

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In this example, the community of Kangiqsujuaq was spared the hardship of being completely without caribou for the winter because the hunters were able to cross the from Nunavik to Nunavut.

3.3.4 Regional Variations in Land Use and Occupancy Inuit from Chukotka all the way to Greenland share a common culture based on similar hunting, fishing and whaling patterns. There are certain variations by region because the communities have easier access to various species.

Detailed land use studies are available for Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Labrador. For Nunavik and Greenland there are studies that provide similar information but are less comprehensive. Unfortunately there is little information about land use in Chukotka currently available, though studies under the International Polar Year promise to change that. What follows is a brief summary of the variations in land use and occupancy in the Inuit settlement regions according to the available sources.

Alaska Residents of Alaska's North Slope Borough coastal communities travel throughout the Borough area in pursuit of subsistence activities. These include a fall whale hunt, in some cases a spring whale hunt, caribou and bird hunting throughout most of the year, as well as fishing. The use areas for coastal settlements extend 40 km or further from the coast, as the Inupiat•Inuit use a combination of traditional skin boats and motorized boats to harvest sea mammals. Snowmobiles are also used on the ice in the hunt for sea mammals (North Slope Borough 2006).

Inuvialuit Settlement Region The Inuvialuit Settlement Region includes the communities of Aklavik, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, and Ulukhaktok (Holman Island). According to experienced hunters from Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, and Ulukhaktok, the area they cover in search of game is approximately the same now as it was at the time of the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project (ILUOP) – with two exceptions. First, difficult ice conditions prevent the hunters from going as far out onto the sea ice in the Amundsen Gulf, and second, trapping has declined somewhat due to changes in the local economy ( Figure 4#3.3.4.a).

The Inuvialuit Settlement Region communities engage in a full range of subsistence hunting, fishing, and whaling activities. On land they hunt caribou, musk•oxen, geese, and in some places moose. On the sea the western communities focus on whaling, while the eastern communities harvest more seals and polar bears. Fish are particularly abundant in Tuktoyaktuk, though all of the Inuvialuit communities engage in fishing.

Nunavut Nunavut is a large territory, which is why it is commonly divided into three regions. Kitikmeot is the eastern•most region and includes the settlements of Kugluktuk (Coppermine), Bathurst Inlet, , Gjoa Haven, , CH •X ANG DF E P

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(Bay Chimo), and (Spence Bay). This area enjoys healthy populations of caribou, seals that are hunted year•round on the sea ice or in the open water, and rich nesting areas for ducks and geese. Many of the rivers and lakes contain char and trout, and cod can be found in some of the bays. Inuit in this region use the straits and gulfs between the mainland and the islands extensively for all kinds of hunting (Figure 4#3.3.4.b).

Kivvaliq is the central region of Nunavut and includes the communities of , Whale Cove, , Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, , and Repulse Bay. Caribou are an important staple here in the fall and winter, while spring and early summer are the prime times to hunt for seals, walruses and white whales along the coast of Hudson Bay. As in other regions, fishing, hunting of ptarmigan and geese, and gathering of wildfowl eggs contribute to the traditional diet, as does harvesting of seafood.

The Baffin Region in the east consists of as well as the islands to the north and the smaller islands in Hudson Bay. This region includes the communities of , , Pangnirtung, , Clyde River, Pond Inlet, Nanisivik, Arctic Bay, Igloolik, Hall Beach, and Cape Dorset, all the way up to Resolute and , and down to Sanikiluaq. Ever since the time of the Thule ancestors, the region around the Hudson Strait and has been an area with many Inuit communities because of the plentiful food resources found here. Many of the fiords, inlets and bays on the coast of Baffin Island are ideal for harvesting seals, polar bears, and narwhals. Caribou are also hunted extensively for food and to make clothing. In fact, the ideal time to hunt caribou for clothing on North Baffin Island is the summer, so the local term for the summer hunt means “the search for material for clothes” (Brody 1976).

Nunavik The Nunavik settlement region in northern Quebec has fourteen villages. The principal village and administrative centre is , on the southern shore of Ungava Bay; the other villages are Inukjuak, Salluit, Puvirnituq, Ivujivik, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangirsuk, , Aupaluk, Akulivik, Quaqtaq, and Umiujaq.

While comprehensive land use studies are not available for this region, an interview with the president of the Nunavik Hunters and Trappers Organization revealed that white fox, wolves, otters, muskrat, and mink are trapped in the region, while seals, walrus, beluga whales, polar bears, sea ducks, and caribou are among the animals currently being hunted. He highlighted the fact that Inuit hunters have always been long distance travellers, and noted that hunters from his community of Puvirnituq travel hundreds of kilometres north by snowmobile or speed boat to hunt on the Hudson Strait near Baffin Island (Paulusie Novalinga, 14 March 2008). Another Inuit hunter added that they collect mussels and shrimp from under the sea ice (Pitseolaq Pinguartuq, 15 March 2008).

Nunatsiavut The Labrador Inuit are the most recent to obtain a settlement agreement. The newly created Nunatsiavut settlement region includes the communities of Saglek, Hebron, CH •X ANG DF E P

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Nutak, Nain, Hopedale, Postvale, Makkovik, and Rigolet. Like Inuit in other regions, these communities also harvest caribou, mostly in the winter; various species of seal; some walrus and polar bears; migratory birds in the fall; and large quantities of fish, including char and salmon (Brice•Bennett 1977). Land hunting occurs throughout the settlement region, while extensive use is made of the sea ice and open water along the coast.

Greenland The 18 municipalities in Greenland are, as in the other regions, located mainly on the coast in order to easily access the sea, but also due to the nearby Greenland ice cap. The municipalities, in turn, are made up of unincorporated towns, villages, and hunting settlements. Hunters travel by boat or over the ice by dog team to harvest several species of seal, hunt beluga whales and narwhal, and fish for capelin and other species of fish (Lene Kielsen Holm, ICC•Greenland, pers. comm., 2008; from interviews conducted by the Sila Inuk project, Disko Bay region, Greenland, 9•10 July 2007). On land, Greenland Inuit hunt caribou (reindeer), musk•oxen, birds, and polar bears. Inuit in northern Greenland often travel as far as various islands near the Canadian border in search of sea mammals. Because of the warmer west Greenland current, much of South Greenland has ice free port access, whereas west and North Greenland have winter sea ice conditions.

3.3.5 Necessity of Movement Over Land and Sea Regional maps and descriptions of land and sea use show the vast territory covered by Inuit harvesters of sea mammals, fish, and game. As subsistence hunters, we Inuit follow the animals as far as needed in each season, according to the overall conditions of that particular year. While Inuit do use the sea ice for general transportation in addition to hunting, we are practical people who harvest as close to our communities as possible. The fact that we often travel long distances as part of the hunt means our people from Chukotka to Greenland need free movement over the land and sea in order to continue our subsistence•based way of life.

As climate change and reductions in sea ice affect the migration routes of the land and sea animals we rely upon, it may be necessary for us to travel even further than before in order to reach them. Inuit hunters are reporting many changes in the locations and times that our traditional animals can be found. In some communities this is reducing the territory that hunters need to cover, while in others they have to travel much further than before in order to harvest enough food for the communities. This is why we are very concerned that sea ice routes remain passable for hunters as well as the migratory game they follow, and that the entire Arctic environment be kept free from contamination – both in the areas we are now using regularly and in those areas where we may need to hunt in the future.

3.3.6 Recent Adaptations Throughout our over 4000 year history, we Inuit have proven to be a highly adaptive people. We have learned new ways of travelling, adapted the construction of our snow CH •X ANG DF E P

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houses to variations in climate, and adjusted our diet according to the availability of fish and wildlife. However, it is only in the past one hundred years or so that we have had ongoing contact with non•Inuit people, who we call Qallunaat. This contact has led to many changes for us, but we have worked hard to maintain our rich cultural heritage even as we adapt to the changes thrust at us.

In our Alaskan and Canadian settlements, regular contact with the Qallunaat began in the early 20th century with the establishment of fur trading centres in many of our communities. Many Inuit changed their hunting patterns during this time in order to capitalize on this opportunity to sell furs. Trapping became a more important activity, while sealing declined somewhat. Trappers also hunted more wolves and other predators in order to protect the foxes along the traplines (e.g., Freeman 1976). In this way, we began to engage with the economic system of the Qallunaat while maintaining our connection to the land and the animals.

Around the same time, Inuit began using rifles for hunting. This was a major change that affected every type of hunting. Also in the early 20 th century, many Inuit whalers switched from using the traditional skin boats to using schooners. In Alaska and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region this meant they no longer went as far inland to follow the caribou, choosing rather to stay near the coast in order to concentrate on whaling and fishing (Usher 1976).

In the late 1950s and 1960s, many Inuit began using snowmobiles instead of, or in addition to, dog teams. This had a great effect on hunting. For example, caribou hunting became easier:

Wherever they are found, caribou are afraid of men and dogs. Hunters approached them by pretending to be another caribou, but a hunter had to make judicious use of terrain and wind to enter a herd and then to pick his kills. The snowmobile has changed that. Caribou are not so afraid of the noise of an engine, and they sometimes will approach a hunter on his snowmobile in apparent curiosity. With good rifles and snowmobiles, the caribou has become relatively easy quarry. (quoted in Brody 1976)

In recent years, hunters have begun using modern communication devices to stay in touch with other hunters or their families while out on longer hunting trips. In the interviews conducted in March 2008, most respondents said they used some kind of communication device. Some used two•way radios or mobile phones to stay in touch with home or other hunters. One mentioned looking up ice condition reports on the Internet. Several said they used a GPS device, with one describing a sophisticated system for reporting the location of all big game he took. Opinions on the usefulness of GPS varied, however:

I don't use the new gadgets much. Only when I'm going to an area known to be dangerous. But actually they can be dangerous too sometimes, because then you go by your compass or GPS when you should be going by your human senses. They are better in the summer on the water than out on the ice. (James Kukkik, Hall Beach, Nunavut, 14 March 2008) CH •X ANG DF E P

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I can either travel by the stars or use GPS, nowadays. They keep advancing. Now they have maps and charts that show how deep the water is. Navigation now is a lot easier than before. (Paulusie Novalinga, Puvirnituq, Nunavik, 14 March 2008)

I don't use GPS on the ice, knowing there might be open water anytime out there. I've noticed that people using GPS on the ice seem to get more into problems. The ice breaks up anytime here, so the trail you might have used breaks off sometimes. So I try and use what I've been taught out there and not rely on GPS. (Loule Padluq, Kimmirut, Nunavut, 14 March 2008)

With all of these changes, some people think we have lost part of our culture. While it is true that we live differently than we did one hundred, or even fifty years ago, at the core we are still the same. We may use fiberglass boats instead of skin boats and, in some areas, snowmobiles more often than dog teams. We may use rifles for much of our hunting instead of spears or wooden harpoons. We may even live in stationary settlements and spend less time in temporary camps. But we Inuit are still hunters and we still rely on the hunt for a large part of our diet, which means we are still out on the land and sea, still travelling great distances to seek out the animals whose behavior we know so well.

3.4. Inuit Sustainability In recent times, many people in business and government and universities have begun to speak about “sustainability.” They speak about sustainable development, for example, which seems to mean different things to different people. There is also talk of economic sustainability and ecological sustainability. This is not a criticism of the people who promote these ideas, because it is certainly important to think about the long•term consequences of our actions. The point is simply this – as a people who have lived in harmony with our ecosystem for thousands of years, we Inuit have a very different concept of sustainability. For us, an action that can continue for ten or twenty, or even fifty years before its damaging effects are seen does not qualify as sustainable. A way of doing things, a way of living and behaving, must be done in such a way that it could continue for hundreds and thousands of years without harming the natural way of things in order for it to meet the Inuit standard of sustainability.

The primary resource for Inuit is the animals. Our people have always known how to care for this resource. We live in harmony with the land. When we hunt, we only take what we need and make sure to leave enough of the herd so that it can replenish itself.

Caribou in the 1990s declined to a very low level, so on our own we put on a restriction of one caribou per household per year, just to preserve the caribou. We started changing over to musk•ox and now musk•ox is a very staple diet for our community. (John Keogak, Sachs Harbour, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, 13 March 2008) CH •X ANG DF E P

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Before game laws were laid down by the government, people used to hunt in places until the animals were no longer plentiful. Instead of hunting all the animals until there were none, they would move elsewhere, to where the animals were more abundant, so that the animals they left would multiply. I used to hunt musk•oxen on the Prince of until there were not many animals left. The musk•oxen there were no longer plentiful. Instead of staying to hunt all of the musk•oxen, we moved to another area around Pelly Bay, where we then hunted musk•oxen again. (Constant Sallarina, Spence Bay, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

I think of the time we used to go out camping in spring. I still know where the seals are. Even though I'm sitting right here, I'm thinking of how we used to go out after seals in spring. We used to go where the seals would mostly be found. We used to take many seals. We never wasted any. We used the skin for making boots or for making a bag in which we could put seal blubber for the next winter. We used to eat the meat and give a part of it for our dogs. We would never waste any. When we got many seals, we would save some for the next winter, for dog food and for ourselves. We would use seal skins for making a tent and storing food when we travelled. Seal skins were looked after well by our wives because the skins were so useful. We used them in summer, winter, fall and spring. In summer, we used seal skins for boots and kayaks because they are waterproof. We even used them to make harnesses for our dogs. (Dominique Tungilik, Pelly Bay, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

When thinking about sustainability, it is important to understand that we Inuit live in the Arctic. This is our home. This is where our people have lived for thousands of years and we intend to live here for thousands more. When we talk about the future, we are not talking about a five•year plan or even a ten•year plan. We are talking about our children and our children's children. We are talking about living in the same communities where we can see the evidence of our ancestors. We are talking about preserving our way of life and the natural environment it depends upon for hundreds and thousands of years. This is what Inuit call sustainability.

3.4.1 Sustainability, the Local Economy, and Shipping Inuit are practical people. We know that it is not possible to turn back the clock on changes, so we do our best to adapt. For example, many of our people work in wage employment at the same time as they live off the land. This means we need jobs, and we need them in our communities so that our young people do not need to move down south and our men and women are able to live with their families.

At the same time, we Inuit are very concerned about the effect that various activities associated with “economic development” are having on our land. As this report has described, we travel all over our land and so do the animals we eat. When any kind of disruption in the natural order of things occurs – for example, an oil spill, dumping of waste, or noise from machinery or ships – the animals are affected. This automatically affects our health and well•being as well, because we are left with a choice between two bad options: Stop hunting the animals which supply us with our meat, which would be a terrible tragedy for our culture and leave our communities without an affordable source CH •X ANG DF E P

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of protein. Or, continue to hunt and eat our traditional foods, with negative consequences for our health.

The following quotes illustrate some of the problems associated with economic activities that do not meet the Inuit standard of sustainability:

I am going to tell you a story about a trip I made once to the Alert area, near Eureka, in 1961. That area, more to our side of the community, had neither caribou nor polar bear tracks. Even behind Eureka, as well as overland, there were not even Arctic hares, not a single sign of foxes. It had no evidence of animal life at all. Obviously Qallunaat had been living there. I am telling you of this event because I have some remembrance of it. But some time ago, that area, even on the sea ice between Grise Fiord and Eureka, used to have caribou and polar bear tracks. Naturally, because the animals had not been forced to go somewhere else. I have thought a lot about this. (Akeeagok, Grise Fiord, Nunavut, quoted in Brody 1976)

In our area even the meat itself has changed. For the past ten years or so, I get stomach problems, horrible cramps, when I eat seals and seafood. There is lots of sewage, garbage, and mining waste draining into the sea near Rankin Inlet, so eating the animals is giving us problems now. I know this is specific to our area, because when I went to Igloolik, I could still enjoy the traditional delicacies. I can't enjoy them here anymore because of the terrible side•effects. (Lizzie Ittinuar, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, 15 March 2008)

I think what done it [caused the seals to disappear] in this bay up here, [an oil company] used to have a lot of oil up there, you know. Up in Makkovik Bay, here. They used to have it up on the beach every summer, for the last nine or ten years – I suppose more than that. Some of the drums be leaky, and there be like oil over the water in the spring. You wouldn't see a seal up in the bay now. You wouldn't get one up there to save your soul. (Bert Winters, Makkovik, Nunatsiavut, quoted in Brice• Bennett 1977)

Ships coming through our seas are also a cause for concern. On the one hand, they can be used to supply our communities with building materials and goods for our stores, which might bring a welcome reduction in the high cost of living in the Arctic. However, ships have also caused a lot of damage, as these hunters explain:

In recent years, all kinds of cruise ships are coming in to our area. Last year alone, there were maybe five or six cruise ships that came into town. More are coming every year. There's a national park here in Pangnirtung, further inside the fiord, that's what they are coming to see. The tourists come into town and buy all kinds of art, like carvings, craft work, soapstone, whatever they can afford to buy. They help the artists. But hunters have been complaining about those ships because they go all over , even to the campsites. People are saying they are scaring away the animals, the mammals and whales. We are really noticing this because in the past couple of summers we hardly saw any narwhals around. Usually we catch our quota, CH •X ANG DF E P

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but not in these past years. (Tommy Qaqqasiq, Pangnirtung, Nunavut, 14 March 2008)

A few years ago there were 28 whale hunters who went out to go hunting. I love to take pictures, so I was filming our trip the whole way with my video camera. We ended up getting three whales, but because of the ice conditions that the ships left, there was almost like a disaster. We lost skidoos and equipment [when they fell through the ice]. Because I was taping the whole thing, I was a witness and we got compensated for the skidoos and hunting equipment we lost. The people who came in the helicopters asked for my tape, which they used to give us skidoos. They were smart enough to realize that they had wrecked the area with their ships and it was their fault, so they ended up compensating us for what we had lost. Tommy Tatateapik, Arctic Bay, Nunavut 14 March 2008)

In one way [ships are] good for us. We need material, we need housing, we need goods, of course. But in another way, when it comes to hunting and fishing, there are less animals that come around our shores if there's a big boat off•loading, with its big lights and so on. That scares off some of the marine mammals that do come here. Therefore it affects the hunting when there's a big boat anchored in the middle of the bay. (Paulusie Novalinga, Puvirnituq, Nunavik, 14 March 2008)

Another example of the difficulties related to shipping comes from the community of Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea coast. Tuktoyaktuk has long been a key hub for supply ships servicing many of the Inuit communities in Canada. Because the harbor is also teeming with various species of fish, Tuktoyaktuk is an instructive example of colliding interests between economic activities and Inuit use of the sea. Inuit hunter, trapper, and fisherman Chucky Gruben describes the issues:

We have a hunters and trappers committee here, we take care of the wildlife. We deal with the people, we deal with the shipping companies. We have done some things where after freeze•up, the ships are not allowed to come into the harbor. But this past year, because of late shipping to other communities, we had to keep our harbor open longer than usual because the supplies hadn't gone out to the other communities. The community of Tuktoyaktuk is right in a harbor where a lot of fishing takes place. There's two entrances to the Tuk harbor. What we call the west entrance is where the smaller boats come in, and over by the east entrance is where the larger ships come in. The east entrance is a place where a lot of people here that do their fishing set their nets right in the channel. Because the ships had made a ship track through the east entrance, they kept it open up right until November sometime, and the people couldn't set their nets there because of the ships going back and forth. That is one of the impacts of shipping on our harvest. Usually with that kind of thing, we do have a say on whether the ships can use the area, but times are changing and every year we get applications to come into the harbor later and later. They wanted to do that the year before last, too, but we had to say no. Last fall we didn't really have a choice because there was still fuel and a lot of CH •X ANG DF E P

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supplies that needed to go out to the other communities, so we had no choice. (31 March 2008)

The point we wish to emphasize through these accounts from various Inuit communities is that the environment is vital to our entire way of life as Inuit. If something were to happen to our fragile Arctic ecosystem, our way of life would be lost and we as a people would be lost. Therefore, any activity in the Arctic, whether it is resource extraction, tourism, or military•related, must be undertaken according to the Inuit definition of sustainability – it must support the continuation of the Inuit way of life for thousands of years to come. 3.5. Conclusion In the Arctic, the sea ice is our highway in wintertime and the open sea is our highway in summertime. The sea is integral to our way of life as Inuit. Because we still rely on traditional Inuit food for a large portion of our diet, and because hunting and being out on the land are central to our culture, we continue to use the land and sea the same way our ancestors have done for thousands of years. This gives us a great sense of pride and well• being.

In the face of climate change and the potential for greater use of the Arctic by newcomers, we urge anyone making any plans regarding our land and sea to remember who has been living in the Arctic for thousands of years, and who will continue to live here for thousands more.

4. Town Hall Meetings As part of the outreach effort of the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment, Lawson Brigham, Esther Cunningham, Ross MacDonald, and Gunn•Britt Retter organized “Town Hall Meetings” in various locations in the Arctic (Table 4#4.a). The intent of these meetings was two•fold. First, the organizers presented the plans for AMSA and the expectation of increased marine shipping that was driving the assessment. Second, the organizers sought input from participants regarding their observations, concerns, and questions related to marine shipping. This section presents a summary of the main themes that emerged from the Town Hall Meetings.

Arctic residents think about shipping, not by itself, but in a broader context of economic, environmental, political, and social change. In the Town Hall Meetings, shipping did not appear to be a cause of great hope or fear, but rather as an additional factor that would influence the future of Arctic communities in various ways. In addition, discussing the future of Arctic marine shipping raised concerns about the ability of small indigenous communities to influence large•scale economic activities.

Environmentally, shipping is seen as a potential source of disruption to marine species. Marine mammals in particular are seen as vulnerable to disturbance. In Resolute, Nunavut, a period of increased shipping in the 1990s pushed walrus away from the community, too far for hunters to reach them. Saami fishermen in northern Norway are CH •X ANG DF E P

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concerned about impacts to fisheries and fish stocks, particularly from pollution or oil spills. Oil spills are in fact one of the largest concerns, especially with the lack of response capability in nearly all areas of the Arctic. Ship traffic also raises the possibility of introductions of invasive species.

Hunters are concerned about impacts to the animals and to their practices. Too much ship traffic could be dangerous for hunters in small boats. In many cases, hunters traveling over sea ice have been cut off by icebreakers, which remains a big concern, especially when travelers’ lives could be at risk from unexpected open water. In some areas of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, caribou migrate over sea ice, and could be affected by icebreaker traffic. On the other hand, hunters in Resolute and Iqaluit noted that some marine mammals follow ships. In Iqaluit, the arrival of a ship was often a signal to beluga hunters to look for whales that may have come into the bay. As one hunter in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, said, hunters are going to adapt, but they cannot survive without healthy animals to hunt.

Economically, shipping offers many benefits. Participants in many communities spoke of the prospect of lower shipping costs if cargo ships can come more frequently or if larger ships can be used. Increased shipping and port activity can also provide jobs. In Canada, ports for mines have often been located away from communities at the communities’ request, to avoid social impacts from the influx of workers. Communities may re• consider that approach or seek other ways to gain economic benefits from port activities. On a smaller scale, cruise ships provide an opportunity for carvers to sell their artwork, making their visits welcome to at least some Arctic residents.

The relative costs and benefits of shipping depend greatly on volume. Modest amounts of traffic, or a few visits by cruise ships, may be seen as largely positive. Increasing numbers of ships and visits, however, pose the threat of greater disruption and little time in between to recover. Culturally and socially, shipping can be a catalyst for disturbance if many newcomers arrive in the Arctic, as has been seen with other forms of development. The Arctic is already experiencing rapid social and cultural change, and additional pressures will only make adjustment harder.

In this context, many participants expressed concern over having little voice in shipping, development, and other activities that have so much effect on their lives. In Norway, development of onshore mineral resources and offshore oil and gas are seen as major threats to the Saami way of life. With the extent of global environment, economic, and social change, many Arctic peoples feel they have little ability to influence major developments like Arctic marine shipping. When shipping companies ignore local residents, the feeling of powerlessness is compounded. By contrast, when shipping companies or cruise lines communicate with local residents, the effort is well received and makes people feel better informed and thus better able to make any adjustments then need to in order to minimize the impacts of ship traffic.

An additional insight from the Town Hall Meetings is that few Arctic residents are aware of the scope of activities that may be coming to their region soon. The meetings were CH •X ANG DF E P

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able to provide some information, but many additional questions were raised about the scale of environmental change, the prospects of mineral development, and other changes that can be expected in the near future. For Arctic residents, these influences are not separate things that can be treated one by one. Instead, each new factor merely joins the others in shaping people’s lives. The degree to which Arctic peoples retain the ability to determine their own futures remains to be seen. Communication and the ability to exercise at least local influence are seen as key components of sustaining traditional ways and practices.

5. Impacts of Marine Shipping on Arctic Communities As a contribution to the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment, and specifically to this chapter, the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development commissioned an assessment of the social, economic, and environmental effects and consequences to northern and indigenous communities from current and anticipated marine shipping activities in the Canadian Arctic. The study was conducted by Thom Stubbs and Carly Dokis of Integrated Environments Ltd. and is the basis for this section.

5.1 Introduction Increased Arctic marine access and expanded Arctic shipping activities are likely to present both opportunities and challenges for governments and Arctic communities. This section provides the results of a literature review on primarily social, economic, and related environmental impacts to northern and indigenous communities from current and anticipated Arctic marine shipping activities. Our main research questions are:

1) What are the larger factors of social and economic change related to increased Arctic marine shipping in Canada? 2) What are the social and economic consequences of changes in future Arctic marine shipping activity in Canada?

The research is based upon a detailed review of secondary literature surrounding current and projected Arctic marine shipping activities. This includes a review of literature on the social and economic effects of past and current marine shipping activities, and literature pertaining to anticipated future trends in Arctic marine shipping in Canada. In order to gain an understanding of general social and economic effects of Canadian Arctic marine shipping, case studies are reviewed including an examination of past reported impacts of past Arctic marine shipping in Canada, and assessments of projects currently proposed. Proxy transportation literature is also reviewed to allow for a comparison between what is known about the social and economic effects of Arctic marine shipping and those lessons learned (or anticipated) from changes in other Arctic transportation systems, such as new road or air access. Finally, common findings from the case studies will be synthesized to present a general overview of social and economic effects of current and future Arctic Marine activities in Canada. CH •X ANG DF E P

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5.2. Key Types of Shipping Activities and their Implications A preliminary scoping of literature surrounding current and projected shipping in Arctic Canadian waters has identified three key types of shipping activity that will drive (or have the potential to drive) larger social and economic consequences for people living in the Canadian Arctic. These include:

· Resource development and economy · Community resupply · The internationalization of shipping.

5.2.1 Resource Development and the Economy Mining There are currently no operational mines in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut that directly involve the removal of ore concentrate via Arctic marine shipping. One mine (Doris North) in Nunavut utilized NTCL sealift operations for mine supply in the summer of 2007. Several mining operations are currently underway in the Slave Geological Province (SGP) including the Diavik, Ekati, and Snap Lake diamond mines in the Northwest Territories, and the Lupin gold mine in Nunavut. The Jericho mine, the first diamond mine in Nunavut, opened in August 2006 and the Doris North gold mine proposed by Miramar Mining Corporation was approved for construction and the first mobilization of building equipment and supplies (by sealift) and the preparation of site construction is underway at Hope Bay, Nunavut. The Raglan nickel•copper mine located in Nunavik, northern Quebec relies on shipping for both supplies and transportation of ore concentrate. Concentrate from Raglan mine is transported to Deception Bay, and from there to Quebec City. A two•phase expansion project for the Raglan nickel•copper mine is scheduled for 2008.

Two mines, now abandoned, that utilized Arctic marine shipping for the export of ore concentrate and importation of mine supplies include the , and the Polaris mine. Both mines are considered to have directly influenced Arctic marine shipping in the region. The Nanisivik zinc•lead mine was opened in 1976 on northern Baffin Island. Nanisivik shipped ore concentrate in the summer months from the Nanisivik site to refineries in until 2002, when it was abandoned and reclaimed. The Polaris mine extracted calcium, lead, and zinc from . Polaris began operations in 1982 and also shipped ore to world markets until 2002 when it was decommissioned.

The Development of the Slave Geological Province (SGP) has been limited by ice•bound ocean access in the north, remoteness, and a lack of transportation infrastructure. There is currently a proposal before the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) to build a deep• sea port at Bathurst Inlet and to construct an all•weather road from the port to Contwoyto Lake. If approved, the project will service existing mines in the SGP, and result in increased certainty and decreased costs for mines already in operation. It is also anticipated that development of port and road infrastructure at Bathurst Inlet would result in bringing existing mineral deposits in the transportation corridor into production. For CH •X ANG DF E P

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example, the Izok, George lake, Goose Lake, Gondor and Hackett River deposits would be able to use the project infrastructure. There is also the potential for the Bathurst Port and Road Project (BIPR) to attract additional mineral exploration, with the potential result being the discovery of new deposits (Government of Nunavut Department of Economic Development and Transportation 2008: 16).

Mineral exploration expenditure in Nunavut in 2006 was approximately $200 million dollars (Government of Nunavut Department of Economic Development and Transportation 2008). It is difficult to determine whether or not the development of new marine infrastructure, such as the BIPR, would induce further mineral exploration and production, or whether or not new mineral exploration and production will, in turn, drive Arctic marine transportation. It is also difficult to isolate the effects of increased Arctic marine shipping related to mining activity separate from the effects of mine itself. In total, five new mines are expected to be operating in Nunavut by 210, addition approximately $500 million annually to the territorial GDP and creating 1,700 new jobs (Government of Nunavut Department of Economic Development and Transportation, 2008). In order to examine the social, economic, and environmental effects of Arctic marine shipping relative to mining activity we have included case studies addressing the social, economic, and environmental effects stemming from the Nanisivik and Polaris mines, as well as anticipated social, economic, and environmental affect assessments from the proposed BIPR, in this report.

Oil and Gas Arctic marine shipping for the oil and gas industry is required for a number of tasks. Offshore drilling operations require drill•ships, icebreaking ships, and resupply vessels. Marine transportation is often required for drill•ship crew changes, towing, and safety standby (Hetherington 1997). And, icebreaking support and ship escorts through ice are essential tasks for Arctic offshore oil and gas exploration and production. In many ways the push to explore and extract the rich hydrocarbon resources of the High Arctic, and particularly the Beaufort Sea, drove the development of new Arctic marine technology in Canada that is now being used in other ice•prone environments in Prudhoe Bay Alaska, off the Kamchatca Peninsula, Russia and in Northern Russia.

In 1961 the first well was drilled in the Canadian Arctic by Dome Petroleum at Winter Harbour on Melville Island. Later, in 1962 the first exploration well was drilled in the Mackenzie Delta, followed by the first off•shore well drilled by Imperial Oil in the Beaufort Sea in 1973. By 1976, Dome Petroleum had begun to use drill ships in the Beaufort Sea, and there was a proposal to build a pipeline(s) from the Mackenzie Delta to markets further south. From 1970 to 1985, with the assistant of the Petroleum Incentive Program (PIP) by the Canadian federal government, companies had drilled over one hundred and seventy exploratory test wells at onshore locations in the Mackenzie Delta, and another seventy wells in the south Beaufort Sea (Fast et al. 2001). Hydrocarbon exploration had also been taking place in the Canadian Arctic Islands. According to Cory Hetherington, during the peak period of hydrocarbon exploration in the Canadian Arctic over 4000 people were employed by industry in Arctic operations(Hetherington 1997: CH •X ANG DF E P

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92). At the height of hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea, it was not uncommon to see an average of over one hundred vessels in Kugmallit Bay alone (Fast et al. 2001).

All Canadian Arctic oil and gas operations were faced with immense obstacles. Drilling through ice, getting supplies and personnel to exploration sites, and the exportation of oil and gas to southern markets are among a long list of project challenges. The large number of workers camped at drill site and staging areas required large volumes of food. The gravel airstrip at Tuktoyaktuk was expanded to accommodate Boeing 737 aircraft so that fruits and vegetables could be flown in regularly. Adjacent communities to work•camps and other sites of exploration activity, such as Tuktoyaktuk, often received associated benefits of reduced food supply costs as well.

Bent Horn was the only project to ship oil from a producing well in the Canadian Arctic to markets further south. The operator, Panarctic, shipped Bent Horn oil from to a refinery in Montreal for over ten years from 1984 until 1996. The Bent Horn project is included as a case study in this report as the only example of long•term Arctic marine oil shipping to date in Canada, although oil was shipped as a test project from Amalaguk in the Beaufort Sea on two occasions.

By the late 1980s world market prices for oil had fallen and the federal government had phased out its incentive PIP program, making hydrocarbon exploration in the north expensive for companies. The last offshore well to be drilled in this period, the Kulluk well, was abandoned in the permitting stage due to uncertainty over the ability to address the environmental consequences of an oil spill in an ice•rich environment; shipping in and around ice (especially moving ice) bound drill sites remains a technical challenge. Exploration for oil and gas in the Canadian Arctic slowed immensely, and many companies cut back their Arctic operations. However, the intense oil and gas exploration activities in the Canadian Arctic during the 1970s and early 1980s spurred several significant political and conservation actions aimed to address the effects of increased development, transportation infrastructure and shipping in the Canadian Arctic.

There has recently been renewed interest in the exploration and production of hydrocarbon reserves in the Canadian Arctic, particularly in the western Canadian Arctic. Heightened oil and gas activities in the western Canadian Arctic will increase ship movement and barge traffic in the Beaufort Sea. A case study on the social, economic, and environmental effects of ship movement in the Beaufort Sea as a result of previous hydrocarbon activities is included in this report, as well as a consideration of potential future impacts of increased oil and gas exploration and production. It should be noted, however, that there is still no licensed means to transport oil or gas to markets in the south, and further development is likely contingent on the construction of the Mackenzie Gas Project currently under review by regulatory authorities in the Northwest Territories.

Tourism Cruise ship tourism in the Canadian Arctic has been steadily increasing, and the number of cruise ships in Canadian Arctic waters doubled from eleven ships in 2005 to twenty• two ships in the 2006 summer tourist season(Stewart et al. 2007: 286). The 2006 AMSA CH •X ANG DF E P

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Progress Report shows that just over six and a half percent of 2004 Canadian Flagged Arctic Vessel traffic was comprised of passenger and cruise ships (AMSA 2006: 5). Cruise ship passengers have taken excursions to the communities of Ulukhaktok (Holman), Cambridge Bay, Resolute, and Pond Inlet, as well as shore landings at places such as , Herschel Island, and (Stewart et al., 2007). Herschel Island alone is said to receive one hundred and fifty tourists per year (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 46). Communities such as Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, Resolute, and Grise Fiord hosted cruise ships in 2006, and Pond Inlet hosted as many as twelve cruise ships over a forty•one day period.

Cruise ships are also active in the western Arctic and Hudson’s Bay. Three cruise ships including the Russian ship Kaptain Khlebnikov, the German ship the MS Haneseatic, and the US ship the Frontier Spirit all operated offshore of the Beaufort Sea, and some cruise ships have made the deep sea port at Churchill Manitoba a port of call (Newton et al. 2002). In the eastern Arctic, Makavik Corporation recently created Cruise North Expeditions which offers one week tours aboard the ship Ushuaia.

In general, tourism employs very few permanent full time workers, though it does contribute substantially to seasonal employment and wages through guiding, carving and arts and craft sales (Myers and Forrest 2000). Cruise ship tourists also contribute to the sale of goods at local Co•ops and other small businesses. Some port communities, such as Pond Inlet, and Resolute have built new hotels and have an interest in wildlife watching and outfitter tours (Myers and Forrest 2000). Bathurst Inlet houses a world renowned eco•lodge, and several on•the•land campgrounds have been developed. While no tourist operator conducts boating tours in Zone 1a areas of the Beaufort Sea as a result of beluga management restrictions, several tour operators have taken visitors to family camps near Kendall Island and have conducted whale watching near Kugmallit Bay (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: iv). As a result of the short tourist season, however, employment as a result of the tourism economy tends to be seasonal, with the exception of Churchill Manitoba which offers multi•season wildlife watching (beluga whales in the summer and polar bears in October/November and in the spring).

A large driver of the tourism economy includes wildlife and marine mammal watching. Communities such as Churchill and Tuktoyaktuk are home to estuaries where beluga whales come in the summer months. In Tuktoyaktuk, however, beluga whale watching is not a major tourism draw as restrictions have been put in place as a result of the Beaufort Sea Beluga Management Plan in order to maintain continued subsistence harvesting of beluga by Inuvialuit. In Churchill, the home of Canada’s only Arctic deep sea port, concerns have been raised about the potential effects of increased cruise ship traffic on beluga whale habitat and populations. Concerns have also been raised regarding the potential conflict between tourism and increased shipping at the Churchill port. A review of the social, economic, and environmental effects of Churchill port is included as a case study in this report. While much of the tourism economy in Churchill is conducted by rail and jet service, some passenger cruise ships have made Churchill a port of call, and the intersection between tourism activities and shipping activities provides an excellent CH •X ANG DF E P

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example of potential opportunities and challenges between diverse resource development sectors.

An important aspect of the tourism industry is the increased market for carvings and the sale other arts and crafts. Tourists have made stops in several Arctic communities (transported from the cruise ships in either Zodiac boats or in helicopters) and purchase goods from local artists. However, there is currently no data regarding the amount of money that tourists spend in communities on carvings or local arts and crafts. In Churchill, there is a general perception among local residents that tourists were not spending enough money in their community. While Newton et al. (2002: 285) report that seventy two percent of tourists leaving Churchill are satisfied with their visit, they also point out a 1998 study that estimated that tourists were leaving the community with between $400 and $500 dollars of unspent travel money. With the demographic of Arctic cruise ship tourists generally people with high levels of disposable income, there is potential to increase sales in local arts and crafts sectors(Stewart et al. 2007: 286).

The expansion of the tourism economy is largely dependent on the extension of the tourist season (or the development of shoulder seasons), and the development and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. In Churchill, for example, coordination between air, rail, and boat services may facilitate tourism activity. In other communities, such as Resolute, the transportation services (including jet service and a port) as a result of the Nanisivik mine provided important services for cruise ships. In an interview for a Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development report, a local resident stated: “Cruise ships start in Greenland. People fly to Greenland, cruise to Nanisivik then fly south on the jet and a new group flies in. Probably a total of 400 people passing through here each summer”(Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: 22).

Increased cruise ship activity may also have some negative impacts for Arctic communities as well. The influx of tourists may put pressure on existing community services, and communities such as Clyde River on Baffin Island have decided that the positive effects of cruise visitation do not outweigh the negative effects (Stewart et al. 2007). Additionally, because the growth of the tourism sector in Canadian Arctic waters has been relatively slow, there has been little coordinated trans•regional tourism planning.

Changes in ice conditions, weather, or operational difficulties necessitates that cruise ships sometime change plans, requiring vessels to occasionally bypass communities that were prepared for a visit, or, alternatively, arriving in the community at an unscheduled time (Stewart et al. 2007). Tourists into northern communities are “guests” that come from different geographic regions and cultures. The effects of host/guest interaction is another potential factor influencing the culture and development of the region (Nash 1977). Changing ice in the Canadian Arctic has potentially brought a new frontier and way of looking at the Arctic for the adventure traveler. The consequences (and curiosity) of climate change has brought a new application on frontier adventure. Many adventurers skiing to the North Pole, for example, talk about the need ski there before it becomes CH •X ANG DF E P

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impossible. In a replacement to this activity, the first few independent sailing ships including the Norwegian Blue have crossed through the Northwest Passage (Norwegian Blue Co. 2008).

Early adventures and explorers had their effect on the Arctic as well. Those in search of the Northwest Passage brought, in many cases, first contact between European and Arctic cultures. Amundsen, trapped and overwintering on the shore of King William Island attracted local Inuit people to locate adjacent to his ships. That site became the community of Gjoa Haven, named after Amundsen’s ship.

Fisheries Commercial marine fisheries are now operating in all three regions of Nunavut. The Baffin () Region appears to offer the best potential for marine commercial fishery development (Topoluiski et al. n.d.), and large•scale off•shore turbot and shrimp fisheries have been established. Shrimp species are almost exclusively harvested by offshore trawlers, while turbot are harvested by both offshore trawlers and a number of smaller fixed gear vessels. There is also an inshore commercial fishery for turbot and scallops in Cumberland Sound. The Keewatin (Kivalliq) and Kitikmeot regions have focused on continued commercial development and marketing of Arctic char, and they have also begun to develop fish resources such as flounder, clams, crab, and scallops with some success (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005). In Nunavik, the Makivik Corporation, along with Qikiqtaaluk Corporation has a stake in an offshore fisheries license which is contracted out to a private company, Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated. A Pacific herring stock assessment was carried out in the Northwest Territories to determine the availability of herring roe in Liverpool Bay near Inuvik. The preliminary assessment suggested that the development of a herring roe fishery is not sufficiently economically viable to justify significant investment (Topoluiski et al. n.d.). There is a commercial fishery inland on Great Slave Lake, which relies on the fish Freight Subsidy Program delivered by the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

The allocation quotas set for the off shore turbot and shrimp fisheries in Nunavut• adjacent waters are based upon the health of the fish stock, rather than the amount of time the Arctic marine waters are ice•free in the summer season, implying that a reduction in sea ice would not impact the Nunavut off•shore fishery in its own right. However, if global climate change results in environmental warming marine waters in the Arctic, the health of the turbot and shrimp stocks may deteriorate. There are northward progressions of temperate fish as a result of the warming of the Atlantic Ocean, and the development of new fisheries over the next century in an ice•free Arctic Ocean is possible. However, as Barber, Fortier, and Byers point out, “given the low temperatures that will always prevail in polar waters, the growth of newly immigrated fish will be slow and the stocks will be highly vulnerable to over fishing”(Barber et al. 2005: 68).

The offshore fishery in Nunavut generates approximately $5.6 million annually in quota royalties and Turbot sales. An estimated additional $900,000 is generated as a result of offshore crew employment (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik CH •X ANG DF E P

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Incorporated 2005: 8). Nunavut captures approximately thirty eight percent of shrimp and turbot allocations in Nunavut•adjacent waters with the remaining sixty•two percent divided between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 27). The Government of Nunavut estimates that the royalty value allocated to non• Nunavummiut in the Baffin region is approximately $6 million per year (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 28).

The Government of Nunavut estimates that approximately eighty percent of Nunavut’s char fishery is utilized in the domestic economy, with the commercial fishery comprising the remaining twenty percent of Arctic char production (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 24). Commercial char sales in Nunavut are estimated at between $1 million and $1.2 million per year, and the annual commercial harvest employs approximately 75 individuals who earn a total of $220,000 per year (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 24). There are concerns that climate change may impact Arctic char fisheries in Nunavut, as Arctic char require cold waters and may relocate if marine temperatures rise.

In total, it is estimated that the Nunavut fisheries currently contribute between $12 million and $14 million to the Nunavut territorial economy (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005). Of this amount, $7.5 million to $9.5 million enters the economy as wage income (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005).

Overall, approximately 371 Nunavummiut are employed in commercial fisheries in Nunavut, with 135 jobs generated from inshore Turbot catch and processing, 146 jobs generated in inshore char catch and processing, and ninety jobs generated in offshore crew for the turbot and shrimp fisheries. Nunavut has four federally registered fish processing facilities. Kitikmeot Foods Ltd. in Cambridge Bay, Kivalliq Arctic Foods Ltd. in Rankin Inlet, and Iqaluit Enterprises focus on the production of Arctic char, while Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd. focus mostly on Turbot with some Arctic char processing (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 8). There are also a number of small•scale community•based fish processing operations. According to the Government of Nunavut, these facilities contribute significantly to the communities in which they are based in terms of jobs in the facilities themselves, and for providing a venue for inshore fisherman to sell their catch (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005).

There is also potential to develop a seasonal cold storage operation in Nunavut. The offshore shrimp and turbot fisheries catch approximately 40,000 tonnes annually, and the majority of the catch is frozen at sea and landed at cold storage facilities for shipment to world markets. None of the cold store facilities are located in Nunavut, and the development of cold storage facilities within the territory may represent a significant opportunity to capture additional economic benefits from the offshore commercial fishery. Additionally, the development of small•scale cold storage facilities may foster CH •X ANG DF E P

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the development of increased commercial Arctic char production in smaller Nunavut communities (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 40).

Despite the contribution made by offshore commercial fisheries to employment in Nunavut, the offshore fishery has been characterized by a heavy reliance on a southern labour force (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 9). A lack of adequately trained workers within Nunavut, and challenges surrounding the recruitment and retention of Inuit workers in the Nunavut fisheries have resulted in significant economic leakage from the territory. Largely due to the level of investment required for commercial offshore fishing, and limited local infrastructure, Nunavut’s involvement in the offshore fishery has been largely in the form of royalties paid by outside commercial interests. Nunavut is currently seeking business partnerships and joint ventures to capture more of the offshore fishing industry.

There are several challenges to opening up Nunavut’s commercial fishing resources. The current level of infrastructure to support fisheries development is basic. There is a need for strategic investment in physical infrastructure including harbor and port facilities, marine service centres, processing plants, and cold storage facilities (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005). . In terms of in•shore or near•shore fisheries, most communities in Nunavut do not have the necessary infrastructure to support fishing vessels, even of modest size (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005). The capital costs for off shore vessels are significant, and joint ventures and partnerships are needed in order for Nunavut organizations to participate (in ways other than royalty generation) in the offshore commercial fishery. Though Qikiqtaaluk currently have a stake in an offshore fishing license, Nunavut’s offshore fishery is largely farmed out to companies from the south, and this represents a loss of economic opportunity for the territory. Also, in February 2008 the Canadian federal government proposed an $8 million investment into Nunavut’s turbot and shrimp fishery by proposing to build a commercial fishing harbor in Pangnirtung (CBC News 2008).

Finally, Nunavut does not have control over the majority of its adjacent fisheries resources. The percentage of shrimp and turbot allocations in Nunavut adjacent waters, for example, is thirty eight percent (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005). The Government of Nunavut claims that the result is a loss of economic opportunities for Nunavummiut and Nunavut. The government of Nunavut argue that in addition to a need for more local control over offshore fishing and fisheries management, there is a strong need for Nunavut and the federal government to maintain an active relationship with Greenland regarding shared fish stocks in the Davis Straight and , including the need for a bi•lateral annual meeting process to share information and engage in management planning (Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 2005: 19). CH •X ANG DF E P

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5.2.2 Community Resupply All Nunavut communities, and several communities in the Northwest Territories, are located on or have access to tidewater and depend seasonally on the summer open water seasons for the annual sealift community resupply of goods from the south. According to the Canadian Arctic Shipping Assessment, community resupply for dry cargo currently involves twenty to twenty two seasonal vessel trips in the eastern Arctic, and fourteen to fifteen seasonal tug•barge trips in the western Arctic (Transport Canada 2007). Community resupply for transportation fuels is approximately fifteen trips each season for the eastern Arctic, with the western Arctic being serviced by ten river tugs that push or tow an average of six linked barges.

In the western Arctic, a significant component of the existing transportation infrastructure involves the Tug and Barge operations of the Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL). NTCL owns and operates approximately fifteen tugs and the vessels used in the Arctic sea•lift operations include the MV Nunakuut, MV Pihurayaak, MV Kitikmeot, and the MV Henry Christofferson. The tugs used by NTCL are shallow draft tugs which allow then to get close to many communities that do not have proper port or dock facilities. NTCL also operates over one hundred ice•reinforced barges that are capable of carrying bulk container modules and oil cargos (Duerden 2004). The NTCL has also served as a sea•lift distributer to the central Arctic region since 1975 (Newton et al. 2002). As of 2002, NTCL traffic through the Churchill Port was at 35,000 tonnes annually, and included 9,000 tonnes of dry cargo, and 26,000 tonnes of fuel(Newton et al. 2002: 286). The social, economic, and environmental effects of shipping through the Churchill Port are included as a case study in this report.

In the eastern Arctic, the Eastern Arctic Sealift, Kivalliq Resupply, and Western Arctic Resupply also conduct sealift operations (Government of Nunavut 2003). In many Nunavut communities, the beach or the shoreline are the only offloading sites. There is a general need for port facilities in Nunavut, however, there are several challenges associated with the development of port infrastructure including low cargo volumes for individual communities, ice damage and high costs of maintenance as a result of extreme ice conditions, and short shipping seasons. For example, the Government of Nunavut estimates that a simple tug/barge crib docking face with a breakwater is estimated to cost at minimum $1 to $1.5 million(Government of Nunavut 2003: 9). In addition, the lack of port and dock facilities and berthing facilities for tanker traffic increases the potential for environmental damage as a result of an oil spill.

The sealift resupply season in the Canadian Arctic is relatively short, from July until October. Though NTCL and other resupply distributors do operate ice•strengthened vessels, the system is not designed to travel through heavy ice conditions. While sea•lift is by far the cheapest means of bringing goods into Arctic communities, it also means that stores and other businesses must bring in as much of their goods as they can by sea• lift and warehouse them over the following year. Myers and Forrest point out that this requires a tight control of inventory and can result in shortages, having to import goods (if possible) via air, or pay expensive warehousing costs (Myers and Forrest 2000). A significant volume of dry cargo is transported to Arctic communities via the annual sea• CH •X ANG DF E P

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lift. For example, in 2000 the Northern store in Pond Inlet estimated that fifty percent of its annual stock came in by sea•lift(Myers and Forrest 2000).

Goods shipped via sea•lift must not be perishable, and non•perishable items must be flown in to communities at considerable expenses. During the winter, when shipping is not possible, air freight is the only supply link available to Arctic people and businesses. The high cost of air•freight (often doubly increased because shipments must pay for both the outbound and return leg of the flight, unlike the shipment of goods in other parts of Canada) has been a significant concern in Arctic communities for several years (Government of Nunavut 2003). The Food Mail program, also known as the Northern Air Stage Program, pays part of the cost of shipping nutritious perishable food by airlift to Arctic communities. The program supplements air transport of nutritious perishable foods for approximately $0.80 a kilogram plus $0.74 per parcel (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2008). The rate for Food Mail shipments has not changed since 1993.

Myers and Forrest (2000) argue that because raw materials must be shipped to Arctic communities and then stored, it is actually much cheaper to import finished goods rather than to import them from within the region. The costs of shipping from southern regions to an Arctic community are very similar to the costs of shipping between Arctic communities, limiting potential local trade and economic development. The importation of finished goods helps to reduce the costs of housing and infrastructure. However, the purchase of goods already produced in the south also results in a leak in the northern economy, as local workers are no longer needed for such work.

In addition to the high cost to import dry cargo, the cost to import fuel for power generation or gas for vehicle use is also extremely high. Prior to 1997, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) announced a change in its rate structure, moving from a subsidized rate for both businesses and residences and public offices to having businesses be responsible for their own operational costs(Myers and Forrest 2000). As Myers and Forrest point out, these costs are transferred to the consumer and make for some of the highest costs of living in Canada.

There are several proposals underway that, if approved, are anticipated to reduce the cost of community resupply in the Canadian Arctic, including the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project and the Mackenzie Valley Highway Extension. Both projects are included as case studies in this report. In addition, past research has shown that hydrocarbon exploration and mining activities contribute to the volume of freight shipped on barges, and can help to offset the high costs of shipping. For example, in 1988 after an intense period of hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea, barges on the Mackenzie River carried half of their 1982 peak volume (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999a: 341). Concerns were raised, as well, that the closure of Nanisivik and Polaris mines in Nunavut would impact community resupply in Arctic Bay and Resolute. CH •X ANG DF E P

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5.2.3 Internationalization of Shipping The potential for decreasing ice cover in the Canadian Arctic, coupled with the increasing importance of resource development, raise questions surrounding the jurisdiction of Arctic marine resources and waterways. As we have already seen, increased emphasis on the Nunavut off•shore commercial fishery has resulted in complicated domestic issues surrounding shrimp and turbot allocations and the jurisdiction and management of Nunavut•adjacent waters. As previously mentioned, the Government of Nunavut has also called for a formal political relationship with Greenland in the management of shared fish stocks in the Davis Straight and Baffin Bay.

Issues of Canadian sovereignty have also become important in light of recent disputes over the ownership of Hans Island, and the political status of the Northwest Passage (Huebert 2005). Changing ice conditions in the Northwest Passage could provide a sea route between Europe and Asia that is 7,000 km shorter than the current route through the Panama Canal (Barber et al. 2005). And, while Canada has asserted sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, some countries consider the passage to be an International Strait (a straight adjoining two expanses of high seas) which means that it would be open to foreign shipping with almost no restrictions (Barber et al. 2005: 70).

Canada has asserted sovereignty over the Northwest Passage and the straits and channels in the Canadian archipelago in a variety of ways. In response to an American ice• strengthened oil tanker SS Manhattan test voyage though the Northwest Passage in 1969, the Canadian federal government granted permission for the voyage and sent an ice breaker to assist the vessel. It later adopted the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act outlining safety and environmental requirements on shipping within 100 miles of the Canadian Arctic coast. In 1985 the Canadian government again granted permission to the US Coastguard ice breaker Polar Sea to sail through the Northwest Passage and, with the consent of Washington, placed several observers on board the vessel. Canada has also claimed the straits and channels of the Canadian Archipelago as historic internal waters and, following an International Court of Justice ruling, argued that sovereignty could rest in strait baselines linking the outer headlands of the Canadian Archipelago.

An important element for many of Canada’s sovereignty claims over the Northwest Passage and Arctic marine waters is the continued use and occupancy of the surrounding land, sea, and sea ice by Inuit people. Barber et al. (2005: 69) report that even during the SS Manhattan voyage through the Northwest Passage, the assertion of Canadian sovereignty was defended by Inuit hunters: “as the SS Manhattan ploughed through the ice near , two Inuit hunters drove their dogsleds into its path. The vessel ground to a halt until the hunters –having made their point –moved aside”. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement also affirmed Canadian sovereignty over the waters of the Arctic archipelago as a result of continued Inuit use and occupancy.

In terms of environmental management and regulation, any increase in shipping activity involves the risks of accidents, including oil spills. While the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allows coastal states to impose laws against marine pollution out to 200 nautical miles when multi•year ice creates navigational hazards, and CH •X ANG DF E P

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Canada has passed the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, the authority to regulate foreign vessels in the Northwest Passage is jeopardized without firm confirmation of Canadian sovereignty claims. The inability to regulate international vessels in the Northwest Passage poses risks of pollution, insufficient safety standards, and the importation of alien species as vessels discharge their ship ballast in Canadian Arctic waters.

Several projects, such as the Churchill port, the proposed Bathurst Inlet deep•sea port, the proposed Mackenzie Highway extension linking Inuvik with Wrigley in the central Mackenzie Valley, and the proposed investment in port and harbor infrastructure for fisheries in Nunavut, and investment in the development of a deep•sea port and re•fueling station at the Nanisivik mine•site have all made the case that maintaining and improving marine transportation infrastructure in the Canadian Arctic will serve to reinforce areas where Canadian claims to sovereignty have been contested. As Newton, Fast, and Henley point out, “these activities are a valuable supplement to the military and other government projects meant to confirm the Canadian presence in this territory, which could have implications for future gas and mineral claims”(Newton et al. 2002: 286).

5.3 Social and Economic Consequences of Arctic Marine Shipping in Canada The following case studies have been identified as illuminating various aspects of Arctic marine shipping in Canada. Some of the case studies offer a diachronic perspective of social, economic, and/or related environmental effects on Canadian Arctic communities as a result of changes in marine shipping activities over time. Others are evaluated for their current or anticipated future social, economic and/or environmental impacts, as they are currently in operation or are still in development. Environmental Impact Assessments (where available) and other germane secondary literature will be reviewed and relevant social and economic effects of shipping activity will be documented for each case study. Finally, in addition to case studies pertaining directly to shipping activities, a case study on the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway extension was selected as an example of social and economic impacts of changes in other Arctic transportation systems in Canada.

5.3.1 Bent Horn In 1974, Panarctic Oils Ltd. (Panarctic) discovered the Bent Horn oil field on Cameron Island. Between 1982 and 1983, Panarctic began the planning, consultation and review process for a project that would see oil extracted from Bent Horn N•72 and shipped with an ice strengthened cargo vessel through the Byam Martin Channel into Melville Sound and Barrow Straight to Little Cornwallis Island. From there, Bent Horn oil could then be transferred to a conventional tanker for onward shipment to refineries in Montreal or elsewhere (Greenall, in press). Panarctic designed the Bent Horn project in two phases; Phase One included sufficient oil production to support two to three tanker shipments per year in the summer months. The exact number of yearly vessel trips would depend on ice conditions. Phase Two was essentially an expanded oil production and transportation operation and would require the addition of expanded storage capacity at Bent Horn, and additional shipping activity. The project was proposed to the federal government in 1984, CH •X ANG DF E P

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and after a formal environmental assessment review, Phase One of the project was approved with conditions.

Construction on the seasonal production and storage facilities began in 1985, and later that same year the first shipment of oil was loaded onto an arctic tanker, the M.V. Arctic at the Cameron Island Facility and shipped the 200 miles to Little Cornwallis Island. Overall, the land footprint of the Bent Horn project was relatively small for the production and storage facilities. Panarctic placed twenty•six rubber storage bladders protected by a berm on Cameron Island, and oil was stored there to facilitate seasonal tanker shipments. Cameron Island also had an airstrip which could accommodate C•130 Hercules aircraft; personnel, material, and supplies could be flow to Cameron Island at little cost from the Rea Point base.

The communities closest to the Bent Horn project include Resolute, Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay, and Pond Inlet. The closest community to the Bent Horn field is Resolute, located approximately 300 kilometers east of Cameron Island. During the planning and review process for the project, Panarctic shared its draft plans and regulatory application materials with all four communities, and provided regulatory application materials to the communities prior to submitting them to the government. As Indian and Northern Affairs Canada points out in their 2006 case study of the Bent Horn Project, this provided communities in the region with the opportunity to be informed about the project, and to influence project planning (Greenall, in press). In addition, Panarctic officials met with the communities in the development of a benefits plan and regulatory applications.

Overall, the four communities were not opposed to responsible non•renewable resource exploration in the region, or limited and well regulated summer shipping activities. However, the communities were opposed to the use of the Northwest Passage for year• round shipment of oil or natural gas and turned to the federal government to control the level of shipping volumes and ensure that ship traffic would not interfere with Inuit harvesting activities or marine mammal migrations (Greenall, in press). Conditions for government approval of the Bent Horn project included a requirement that should the Bent Horn project proceed to Phase Two of the development plan, a comprehensive socio•economic review would be required. Essentially, this condition meant that there would be no more than two to three tanker shipments of oil each year until a socio• economic review had been completed. The volume of oil produced at Bent Horn did not necessitate an increase in tanker shipments between the summers of 1985 and 1996, and thus a mid•project review was never triggered (Greenall, in press).

Initially, Panarctic Oils attempted to find a domestic market for Bent Horn oil. Following the successful use of unprocessed Bent Horn crude oil in the boilers and air heaters at the Skybattle drilling location, Panarctic decided to utilize unprocessed Bent Horn crude to fuel generators and other equipment at their other High Arctic locations. The Bent Horn crude was reported to be equal to diesel fuel for the generation of power for the diesel engines in use at Resolute, and provided fuel for the Nanisivik and Polaris mine operations. Panarctic negotiated an arrangement to provide Bent Horn oil to the Power Commission for use in Resolute, however after a short experimental CH •X ANG DF E P

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period the contract was not renewed because there had been environmental complaints from local residents about a foul odor that was emitted when Bent Horn oil was used in the power plant (Greenall, in press).

Panarctic utilized a yearly summer sealift from southern Canada to the supply base at Rea Point, and the sealift resupply was substantially cheaper than the per pound freight for airlift (Hetherington 1997). Initially, Panarctic considered having the sealift supply vessel continue on to Bent Horn to load oil and carry it south on its outbound voyage. However, heavy ice conditions necessitated the use of an ice•strengthened tanker. The communities of Resolute, Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay, and Pond Inlet also depend on the annual sealift for the resupply of goods and fuel for domestic consumption. Given that the Cameron Island facilities were at least 300 kilometers away from the closest community (Resolute), there is no evidence that community re•supply by sealift was increased, or that goods were available at a lower cost. There is some evidence, however, that the use of Bent Horn oil for fuel in power plant operations in Resolute may have decreased the community’s reliance on fuel re•supply, even if for only a short period of time.

The largest community near the Bent Horn facilities is Pond Inlet (estimated 1984 population of 700), followed by Arctic Bay (estimated 1984 population of 400), and these two communities supplied the majority of Panarctic’s Inuit workers. Up to ten Inuit from Arctic Bay were employed during the 1985 construction period, for subsequent installations and construction, and during the decommissioning (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2006). However, most Inuit worked at the Rea Point supply•base in warehousing activities. Panarctic employed a seasonal and rotational work cycle, with employees able to work a two•weeks•on, two•weeks•off work rotation that was attractive to some Inuit workers. Inuit workers were provided charter air transportation between their home communities and their work sites.

In terms of Bent Horn’s effects on Inuit harvesting activities, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada reports that no resource harvesting by Inuit occurred on Cameron Island or the surrounding waters, and that the only resource harvested on Melville Island was Polar Bear, hunted by Inuit from Grise Fiord and Resolute (Greenall, in press). The direct effects of increased shipping activities on Inuit use of Arctic sea ice and traditional ways of living is addressed in a report conducted by ICC Canada for the AMSA.

In the fall of 1996, the Bent Horn well was abandoned due to falling reservoir pressure. During the decommissioning, Panarctic offered to make the heavy equipment located at Bent Horn available to the community of Resolute at a low cost, and the community was able to purchase a front•end loader. Also, a contractor in Resolute was able to obtain nine C•130 Hercules loads of equipment and material (Greenall, in press).

According to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Bent Horn project had limited apparent socio•economic effects on the four communities “apart from generating some short•term employment opportunities for Inuit from Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet and increased business activity for a contractor in Resolute” (Greenall, in press: 9). Other CH •X ANG DF E P

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literature holds Bent Horn as an example of a successful project that demonstrated the shipment of oil could be conducted in an environmentally successful way into the eastern Northwest Passage in the summer months using an Arctic Class III tanker. In an interview included in Chris O’Neil’s work on oil and gas exploration in the Canadian arctic, a CANMAR naval architect states ‘nobody complains about it. There have not been any leaks, to the best of my knowledge, and they are doing it on a very low•key basis’”(Hetherington 1997: 227). While the distance between the communities and the Bent Horn field limited some potential community benefits, such as increased community resupply at a lower cost, it also meant that other effects, such as disruptions in community services were mitigated. The Bent Horn project provided some employment in the wage economy for a limited number of Inuit workers. Importantly, it also involved Inuit, northern organizations, and the Government of the Northwest Territories in regulatory and planning processes, and kept communities and various levels of government well informed of project activities.

5.3.2 Nanisivik Mine Nanisivik zinc•lead mine was the first mine built in the Canadian Arctic. In 1972 and 1973, Mineral Resources International (MRI) undertook production feasibility studies to lead•zinc ore from the Nanisivik area. Two possible scenarios were developed: a private sector scenario, where the project would run essentially as a bunk•house operation and would have an approximate seven to eight year life span, or a public/private scenario where the federal government would provide support to develop a town site. Under the second scenario, the anticipated lifespan would extend to between twelve and thirteen years. The town site scenario was preferred by the federal government, and was approved in 1974.

Construction of the town site began in 1974 and a dock and port was built by the . Breakwater (the mine operator) paid port dues and warfage on shipped concentrates from the Nanisivik mine (Transport Canada 2007). The town site at Nanisivik was built only 21 kilometers from the community of Arctic Bay, and Nanisivik and the community of Arctic Bay are now connected by a road. According to a study on the socio•economic impacts of Nanisivik commissioned by the Government of Nunavut, the mine and the town site were “initiated in the midst of expectations that it would provide significant social and economic benefits to north Baffin communities”(Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: 1). The Nanisivik Mine operated from 1974 to 2002, when the mine was reclaimed and the Nanisivik town site abandoned.

The major direct economic impact of Nanisivik on the community of Arctic Bay was the wages paid to employees (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: 34). According a study on the socio•economic effects of the Nanisivik mine commissioned by the Government of Nunavut, a limited but significant number of Arctic Bay residents worked full or part time in the mine over the thirty year mine•life, in 2002 directly contributed over $1 million per year over 25 years to Arctic Bay’s total personal income (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable CH •X ANG DF E P

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Development 2002: iv). In 2002, fourteen people from Arctic Bay were employed full time at Nanisivik and earned an annual income of $25,000 or more. An additional thirty people from Arctic Bay have been working part time or gain casual income from the Nanisivik mine (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002). The closure of the mine is likely to result in the loss of jobs and associated wages, and is expected to decrease household income for those people employed at the mine. Employment opportunities in other sectors of the economy are limited, and the competition for other jobs is expected to increase (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002).

A loss of income may also impact harvesting activities because people may no longer be able to afford fuel and harvesting equipment, such as snowmobiles. According to the study commissioned by the Government of Nunavut, increased income as a result of employment at Nanisivik supported the purchase of harvesting equipment which was often shared with family members and others in the community. The report suggested that there is no evidence that the level of sharing of country foods was reduced by participation in a wage economy (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: ii).

In addition to a decrease in household income, the loss of jobs and associated wages resulting from the closure of the Nanisivik mine is expected to have an effect on retail stores and other local businesses as income (including disposable income) decreases. While only two local businesses have received contracts to conduct work at the Nanisivik mine and town site, earned income at the mine has contributed to the local economy through spending at Arctic Bay businesses (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002). The abandonment of the Nanisivik town site will impact Arctic Bay business, retail, and arts and craft sectors, as mine workers from other parts of Canada will likely leave the area.

In terms of transportation infrastructure, the port facility and the airstrip have provided decreased freight costs and have resulted in more frequent and reliable transportation services. The airstrip is able to feasibly accommodate jet service as a result of business provided by the mine. More frequent jet service has resulted in more convenient plane transportation to neighboring communities at a lower cost for travelers. In addition, the frequent jet service has reduced the costs of air freight, and fresh food is transported into the community more regularly. Tourists also make use of the frequent jet service, and it has been reported that groups of cruise ship guests fly both in and out of Arctic Bay (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: 70). Jet service has also made it possible for tourists to travel to Arctic Bay for events such as the Midnight Sun Marathon. Nanisivik’s port facility has provided for more frequent and less expensive shipping as a result of an increase in ship traffic due to mine re•supply. The port has also served as a re•supply point for cruise ships. Both the jet and the port facility have been identified as “contributing to tourism potential in the region by providing important services to cruise ships”(Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002: 25). The port and jet facilities are anticipated to contribute to a growing tourism economy. CH •X ANG DF E P

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In the study on the socio•economic effects of Nanisivik commissioned by the Government of Nunavut, residents of Arctic Bay identified several negative effects of the Nanisivik mine. Alcohol associated with the Nanisivik mine and town site is generally associated with negative social impacts. In 1978, alcohol was permitted to be shipped to Nanisivik, and it is said that alcohol consumption increased(Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002). The transition from a subsistence to a wage economy was also identified as a negative impact, as was changes in the roles of elders and parents in raising children. However, the authors are quick to point out that the transition towards a wage economy, and the role of parents and elders can not be attributed to the mine alone, and that general changes such as a move toward a formal education system, have also facilitated these impacts. Also, as mentioned earlier, in some cases wages earned as a result of working at Nanisivik resulted in a greater ability to participate in harvesting activities. Other indirect socio•economic effects on Arctic Bay include some (mostly temporary) stress on marriages as a result of family role changes from leaving the family for shift work, increased workload at home and increased contact with non•local workers. The authors point out, however, that mine workers rarely visited the community of Arctic Bay for social interaction and that the “physical and cultural separation” between mine workers and residents of Arctic Bay may have mitigated additional impacts (Government of Nunavut Department of Sustainable Development 2002).

Finally, the authors of the study on the socio•economic impacts of Nanisivik on Arctic Bay point out that while the transportation infrastructure developed as a result of Nanisivik mine and town site may put the community of Arctic Bay in a favorable position in regards to a developing tourism economy, other infrastructure such as increased housing, schools, and business spaces has not benefited. The authors point out that the federal government invested in the infrastructure of the Nanisivik town site (now abandoned as a result of the decommissioning of the mine), and consider the community’s development status had the government invested in Arctic Bay infrastructure rather than infrastructure and services at Nanisivik.

Nanisivik mine and town site will have future uses, however, and in August 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the Nanisivik port will be refurbished for military and civilian purposes. The new port and refueling station are estimated to cost $100 million and is expected to begin in 2010. In addition to other activities, the port will serve as a training site for the Canadian military, and will help to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty claim over the Northwest Passage (CBC News 2007b).

5.3.3 Port of Churchill The Port of Churchill is currently the only Arctic deep•sea port in Canada (Newton et al. 2002). Owned and operated by OmniTRAX International, the port offers four berths for the loading and unloading of grain, cargo, and tankers, and is able to accommodate Panamax class vessels up to a 60,000 tonne capacity. The port also has the capacity to clean and store grain in a 140,000•tonne grain elevator. The shipping season for the Port CH •X ANG DF E P

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of Churchill is from July to mid November, and it has a throughput capacity is over 1 million tonnes of grain (Port of Chuchill 2008). Grain accounts for ninety percent of the port’s current traffic, and while ocean going vessels primarily export grain and other commodities to Europe, South America or Africa, the port also has the capacity to import products. The port is connected to the Canadian National Railway system through the Hudson Bay Railway which allows for efficient access to western wheat lands and North American markets. The resupply of fuel, good, and cargo to communities in along Hudson Bay and the central Arctic by Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) has also become an important function of the port, making Churchill an invaluable transportation artery for northern Manitoba and the central Arctic region. In 1997 the transfer of the port from the Crown Corporation Ports Canada to OmniTRAX International required bringing the port up to environmental standards, and the majority of these tasks including dust control and remediation of contaminated oils surrounding the marine tank farm have been completed (Newton et al. 2002: 268).

Over the years Churchill Manitoba’s location has fostered a range of Arctic•focused activities including international shipping, an international rocket research range, and Canadian and American military instillations aimed to track and monitor Arctic activity. Shipping access provided a core rationale for these services.

Historically, Churchill was one of two main export routes for the active for trade in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. When the Fort Churchill military base was decommissioned in the 1980s, there were concerns raised by local residents about abandoned and derelict buildings, dumps, and gravel pits used for construction in military sites. Also, new gravel pits along the Hudson Bay coast used for road and runway construction have yet to be reclaimed and are said to be of concern to local populations (Newton et al. 2002: 284).

Overall, the major employers in Churchill include the Hudson Bay Port Company, the Regional Health Authority, the Town of Churchill, Churchill Airport, and NTCL. The Hudson Bay Port Company is the major employer in the region with 100 workers employed during the shipping season from July until November. In addition, NTCL employs 40 employs for their barge and resupply operations(Eddy et al. 2002). In general, the Port of Churchill annual contributes approximately $6.5 million to the local economy(Eddy et al. 2002). In 1998, the Churchill Airport employed 37 people directly, and 82 people indirectly, contributing $14 million dollars in direct and indirect revenue(Newton et al. 2002: 286).

Tourism activities also contribute significantly to the Churchill economy, both directly and indirectly, and in 1997 the tourism industry is reported to have directly employed 130 local residents, and indirectly generated up to 50 jobs (Newton et al. 2002: 282). According to some studies, the tourism industry accounts for up to forty percent of Churchill’s total local economy(Newton et al. 2002). Churchill is a popular destination for national and international tourists, and has become world renown as a wildlife sight seeing destination, including observing polar bears, beluga whales, northern lights, and various bird species. In 1996, 12000 tourists visited Churchill by air and an additional 6500 arrived by train (Eddy et al. 2002: 293). Cruise ships have also been making CH •X ANG DF E P

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Churchill a port of call with increasing frequency over the past few years, and cruise ship passengers have been able to utilize the rail and airport services in Churchill to continue on to other destinations. However, some studies have reported that tourism growth may be limited by infrastructure demands, including a lack of quality accommodation. Furthermore, a developing tourism economy will depend on maintaining and increasing current infrastructure and expanding tourist seasons. More integrated transportation facilities and services that would allow for efficient travel, say between port and air facilities would provide for growth in the tourism sector (Newton et al. 2002: 287).

Despite the employment opportunities provided as a result of the shipping and tourism sectors, unemployment levels in Churchill remain fairly high compared to the rest of Manitoba, with twenty one percent unemployment in Churchill compared to an average of eight percent unemployment province•wide(Newton et al. 2002: 282). This is largely due to the seasonal nature of employment in both the tourism and shipping sectors, and results in seasonal employees having to depend on government subsidies for some portions of the year. An extension of the shipping and tourist seasons may provide for longer periods of employment for local residents.

A study conducted by Newton et al. (2002) shows that local residents have reported a concern over the environmental effects of increased tourist activities. A significant number of people interviewed in Churchill identified tundra vehicle traffic as their main environmental concern in Churchill. There is a general concern that too many tourists over a short period of time will result in environmental degradation and overburden local infrastructure. There is also concern that an increase in tourism will result in the disturbance of wildlife, and the pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. There is also a general concern that increased commercial shipping activity and dredging of the port may result in a disturbance to the Churchill River estuary, which is vital to Beluga whale populations. An important consideration for increased ship traffic includes potential environmental impacts on important wildlife populations vital to the tourism sector, such as Beluga whales and some bird species. It is anticipated that conflicts may arise between tourism and shipping sectors if the shipping season is extended. However, Eddy et al. (2002) report that local residents also see longer shipping seasons as the potential to have a positive effect on local employment.

Local residents have also reported negative impacts associated with increased dust from port activities, however, dust control facilities have been installed and dust mitigation has been in effect since 1997 when OmniTRAX took over port operations. There has only been one oil spill as a result of port activities, but local residents are concerned about the potential for additional spills. The Churchill River estuary and the Hudson Bay coastline represent important social, cultural, economic and recreational locations for local residents and activities such as hunting, fishing, and camping are important aspects of life for many people in Churchill (Eddy et al. 2002: 293).

The NTCL has utilized the Churchill port as a distribution centre for the central Arctic region since 1975. Cargo is transported to Churchill via railway and is then transferred to barges for shipment to northern communities. According to Newton et al. (2002), NTCL CH •X ANG DF E P

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traffic was at 35,000 tonnes annually (9,000 tonnes of dry products and 26,000 tonnes of fuel) in 1999. An agreement between the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Nunavut to maintain Churchill as a gateway to Nunavut communities should ensure that shipping re•supply remains an important function of the port.

The Newton et al. study also identified local concerns over alcohol abuse, low educational levels, quality of health care, child neglect, drug use, insufficient youth programs, care for the elderly, and the use of video lottery terminals as the main social concerns in the Churchill community. However, the authors did not attribute any of these concerns directly to port or shipping activities.

In 2007 the port of Churchill received its first ever shipment from Russia, and the first inbound shipment since 2000. The Murmansk Shipping Company vessel, the Kapitan Sviridov, unloaded fertilizer imported by Farmers of North America, and was loaded for outbound shipment of wheat to Italy. The Churchill port is actively promoting two•way trading opportunities with Europe, Russia, and Africa and promotes lessened nautical miles for ships wanting to reduce transportation time and distances. For example, shipments from Murmansk to North America through the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes to western Ontario typically take 17 days, however the time between Murmansk and Churchill is only eight days under favorable ice conditions (Hudson Bay Port Company 2008). Unloaded cargo can then be shipped via rail to multiple North American destinations. The development of the Murmansk to Churchill route is often referred to as the Arctic Bridge.

In 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper announced that the federal government (along with the Province of Manitoba) would share $40 million in improvements to the Hudson Bay rail line between The Pas and Churchill, and $8 million for improvements to the Port of Churchill (CBC News 2007a). While grain is presently the primary export shipped out of Churchill, OmniTRAX is attempting further diversification of ship traffic to include alternative crops, minerals, and bulk commodities such as potash.

5.3.4 Beaufort Sea Early hydrocarbon exploration drilling began in the Beaufort Sea in 1973, with the majority of exploration drilling occurring between 1973•1989 (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 39). By the early 1990s, over 210 exploratory test wells had been drilled in the Mackenzie Delta and offshore in the Beaufort Sea (Fast et al. 2001: 187).

The Tuktoyaktuk Harbour and McKinley Bay acted as staging areas for offshore drilling conducted in the Beaufort Sea in the 1970s and 1980s. Dome Petroleum and Imperial Oil set up large shore bases within a few miles of Tuktoyaktuk, and a dock was built to accommodate loading and unloading supply vessels. Although Tuktoyaktuk had existing infrastructure prior to early hydrocarbon development (including an airstrip and a natural harbor), the harbor was limited by a shallow and long entrance channel that was too shallow to accommodate large drill ships and larger vessels. Additional harbors were developed to store larger ships over the winter months (Hetherington 1997: 88). However, vessels did over•winter at both Tuktoyaktuk and McKinley Bay locations, and CH •X ANG DF E P

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those locations became significant in the resupply of drilling consumables and fuel, and dry dock repairs to base camps and drill ships. According to interviews conducted by Fast et al. (2001) during the most intense periods of early hydrocarbon exploration activity in the Beaufort sea, it was not uncommon to see an average of 100 vessels including barges, drill ships, and supply vessels in Kugmallit Bay.

The hundreds of workers associated with hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta required a large volume of food which was flown in regularly. The airstrip at Tuktoyaktuk was expanded to accommodate Boeing 737 aircraft, and fresh fruit and vegetables were flown in almost daily (Hetherington 1997: 89). Fuel was imported using tankers or barges.

Imperial Oil, Dome Petroleum, and Gulf Oil constructed work•camps near the town of Tuktoyaktuk, raising concerns among locals about industry employees interacting with community residents. Initially, all three camps but measures in place to prevent employees from entering Tuktoyaktuk, however, the community eventually approached the companies and requested that employees be allowed to access the town so that they could use Tuktoyaktuk services and shops. Employees were then permitted unlimited access to the town until eventually access was again restricted to certain chaperoned times, as a result of several complaints from residents about disruptions caused by southern workers. In contrast to Tuktoyaktuk, O’Neil (1997: 154) points out that resident of Inuvik generally did not have the same level of concern about an influx in southern workers because of an already existing military base, government, and industrial sectors.

According to Jana Zavitz, training of northern employees was one of industries greatest positive contributions during early Beaufort Sea exploration (Zavitz 1997a: 189). It was anticipated that northern residents would gain employment on drill ships, supply vessels, and that northern workers would staff the personnel and supply camps. Because this was the first time many northern workers had been exposed to oil exploration activities in the Beaufort Sea, they were in need of training. Initially, when workers were sent for training in southern programs, the recidivism rate was as high as eighty percent (Zavitz 1997a: 189). Training programs were then revised to include classroom training, hands•on experience on practice drill rigs, and on•the•job training. Dome Petroleum was also instrumental in establishing Tuk Tek in 1980, a training program housed at Dome’s camp near Tuktoyaktuk, during the winter months when the camp was empty. Eighty six northerners successfully completed programs at Tuk Tek during its first two years of operation and the recidivism rate fell to as low as five percent (Zavitz 1997a: 187•189). In addition to skills relevant to employment, instruction was given in money management, dealing with financial institutions, and other skills needed to transition from a subsistence to a wage economy.

Generally speaking, oil and gas development provided employment, increased wages, improved community infrastructure and services, and opportunities for local businesses. They also change the way families and communities live as family members migrate or undertake rotational work away from their home, and bring home cash instead of going out on the land to bring home protein. CH •X ANG DF E P

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Some modest improvements occurred in areas of education, though educational attainment in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region remained, on average, generally lower relative to other jurisdictions in Canada. In a summary of a workshop conducted for the Beaufort Sea Strategic Regional Plan of Action, local residents also pointed to negative effects of hydrocarbon exploration including less country food consumption, lower participation in traditional harvesting activities, fewer people speaking Aboriginal languages, increased drug and alcohol consumption, increased crime and violence, and boom and bust cycles that resulted in unstable community economies (Beaufort Sea Strategic Regional Plan of Action 2006: 7). While all of these impacts cannot be directly attributed to hydrocarbon exploration in the region, local residents cited hydrocarbon exploration as a key factor in bringing these changes to communities, or in contributing to effects already experienced by community members.

In the 1980s world oil prices fells significantly, and the exploration for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea stalled. Employment in Tuktoyaktuk, which had become a focus of exploration activity in the 1970s, was severely affected by the decline of the oil and gas industry. The cessation of oil and gas activity in the 1990s, coupled with the closure of the military base in Inuvik in 1986, meant that many southern workers who had come to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk for work, returned to the south. The lack of employment opportunities resulted in some local residents turning to government assistance while unemployed. At the same time, some studies suggest that substance abuse levels also rose when oil and gas exploration activities ceased (Zavitz 1997b: 170). One study suggests that the lack of work has lead some northerners to return to hunting and trapping activities, as well (Zavitz 1997b: 174).

The Tuktoyaktuk harbor also plays an important role in the shipment of dry•goods, cargo, and fuel throughout the region. The Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) has a large docking and staging facility in Tuktoyaktuk and they operate a coastal community supply vessel through Kugmallit Bay every other day, on average, between July 1 and October 1 (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 48). In addition, barge traffic consisting of ten river tugs that toe an average of six linked barges transit Kugmallit Bay approximately two to three times per week in the summer months, carrying bulk petroleum products, dry cargo, and supplies to communities, oil and gas exploration sites, and military instillations. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, other than a slight increase in tourism and an upsurge in oil and gas related activities, there has been little increase in the size or nature of barge traffic in recent years (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 48).

In additional to transportation and petroleum industries, tourism provides some wage earning employment opportunities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Tourism is the third leading export in the Northwest Territories (although small by comparison), and the tourism industry has potential to expand (H. Fast et al. 2001). Important tourism activities in the Beaufort Sea include observing wildlife, hiking, rafting, sports hunting and fishing, visiting whaling hunting and fishing camps, boating, and attending cultural events. There is some interest in exploring opportunities for beluga whale watching as well (Fisheries CH •X ANG DF E P

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and Oceans Canada 2003: iv). According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2003) no tourism operators conduct boat tours in Zone 1a areas, though several local outfitters have taken tourists to hunting and fishing camps. There are three cruise ships that currently travel in the offshore waters of the Beaufort Sea. Cruise ships do not enter estuaries or the Mackenzie Delta areas due to insufficient water depth, but at least one of the cruise ships brings tourists to shore with helicopters or zodiac boats (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 48). Tours typically run from May to September each year and bring approximately four to six cruise ships (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: 46).

Beluga whales that aggregate in the shallow Beaufort waters in the summer months represent a large potential draw for tourism activity, however, since harvesting is also conducted during the summer the Beaufort Sea Beluga Management Plan prohibits tourism activities such as whale watching in Zone 1a areas from spring break•up until August 15 ( Fast et al. 2005: 101). Beluga whales remain a significant traditional food harvested by people living in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. According to a report commissioned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada: “these activities are much more than subsistence economic pursuits; they are integral to the Inuvialuit culture offering tremendous social benefits, reconnection with the land, continuance of cultural traditions, and strengthening of family and community bonds” (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003: ii). It is estimated that seventy five percent of households in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region still rely on the land for hunting, fishing, and domestic food production (Usher 2000, Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003). An average of 111 Beluga whales were taken in subsistence harvesting annually in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the 1990s. Traditional foods are consumed by Inuvialuit for nutritional, cultural, spiritual, social and economic reasons. Economically speaking, the consumption of traditional foods can off• set the high cost of food items in remote communities, which can be significantly higher than in southern cities (Usher 2002). In addition to the nutritional value of traditional foods, the cultural, social, and spiritual benefits that traditional foods supply cannot be replaced by store•bought foods (Transport Canada 2003: 27).

There are concerns regarding the potential effects of proposed future hydrocarbon activities on beluga whale populations. Beluga summering in the Beaufort Sea in the summer months concentrates in areas where deep water port development and shipping could affect water regimes, water quality, and food availability. Fast et al. (2005: 101) report that “such activities could affect beluga either directly (underwater noise, oil spills) or indirectly (changes in stability or integrity of ice, timing of breakup , chronic hydrocarbon contamination of food species)”. An additional study conducted by Fast et al. (2001: 199) shows that some of the highest hydrocarbon concentrates in the Arctic occur near the Tuktoyaktuk harbor and appear to be a result of fuel spills and runoffs from work•yards. For example, increased hydrocarbon activities would likely increase ship movement and barge traffic through the shipping corridor in Kugmallit Bay. This shipping corridor plays an essential role in the supply of goods and materials for coastal communities and oil and gas exploration sites, but is also an important beluga summering location. Presently, hydrocarbon seismic and drilling programs are being conducted in the winter months, when whales are not present in the area. CH •X ANG DF E P

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There has been a renewed interest in hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea. Ten new exploration parcels were nominated during the summer of 2000, and the Inuvialuit Regional Council recently put some of their subsurface lands out for bid, resulting in four parcels being allocated. Devon Energy has also conducted seismic and exploration drilling activities. However, with the exception of the on•shore Ikhil field, no oil or gas fields have been developed in the Beaufort Sea or Mackenzie Delta and the extent and nature of future activity is likely dependent on the timing and approval of the Mackenzie Gas Project.

5.3.5 Bathurst Port and Road Project If approved, the Bathurst Port and Road Project (BPRP) will consist of a deep sea port on Bathurst Inlet in the of Nunavut, and a 211km all weather road which would connect the port to existing Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road at Contwoyto Lake. The infrastructure needed would include a wharf to serve vessels delivering fuel and bulk cargo to the port, a dock to handle barges for community resupply vessels, a 200 person camp, a diesel fuel tank farm, a truck and trailer maintenance shop, and a 1,200m airstrip. There would also be a twenty person camp at Contwoyto Lake. The BPRP has been designed in two stages: a construction phase, and an operations phase. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the BPRP has been submitted to regulatory authorities in 2008, and is currently under review by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

The project Proponents are a joint venture (Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Joint Venture Ltd.) which is owned by Kitikmeot Corporation and Nuna Logistics Ltd. The project infrastructure will service the existing diamond mines in the Slave Geological Province, and serve to attract further capital investment in the exploration and development of new mines. Also, the BPRP is anticipated to serve as a community re•supply centre in order to reduce the cost of essential bulk and dry cargo to Kitikmeot communities.

Marine shipping to and from the deep sea port proposed for Bathurst Inlet is anticipated to occur during ice•free months between the middle of July and October 15. Marine access to the port would use the existing shipping lanes that currently serve the community of Resolute, and have previously been utilized to serve the Polaris Mine, Bent Horn, and Rae Point. Vessels of up to 50,000 tonnes will deliver over 300,000 tonnes of fuel and supplies for communities and mines (BIPR 2004).

Generally speaking, a major objective of the BPRP is to induce further investment into proposed and potential future mining activity. The Proponents state that the mineral wealth of the Slave Geological Province has not been fully realized due to a lack of infrastructure resulting in high costs for mineral exploration, development, and production (BIPR 2004: 10). The BPRP is aligned to be accessible by existing mines such as Ekati, Diavik, and Snap Lake, and projects in advanced stages of exploration such as Gahcho Kué, Hackett River, Hope Bay deposts, and Izok Lake. It is anticipated that these projects will utilize BPRP facilities to export products and import supplies.

It is anticipated that utilizing the BPRP, fuel, cargo, and services could be delivered to the mines sooner and at a lower cost than existing overland winter road transportation from CH •X ANG DF E P

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Yellowknife. In addition to resupplying the mines, the BPRP is expected to significantly lower the costs of goods imported to Kitikmeot communities via the port at Bathurst Inlet. For example, the cost for fuel is estimated at $1.00/L from the proposed Bathurst Port as compared to $1.48/L barging from Hay River; and the cost of dry cargo is anticipated to be $315/tonne from the proposed Bathurst Port as compared to $859/tonne barging from Hay River (BIPR 2004: 10). Goods shipped through the Bathurst Port are also anticipated to be delivered sooner, and the Proponents expect that cargo transport to Cambridge Bay, for example, could be delivered four to six weeks earlier than if it were barged from Hay River via the existing Mackenzie River route (BIPR 2004: 90). It is anticipated that a reduced cost of freight as a result of the Bathurst Port would directly reduce the cost of living in Kitikmeot communities by transporting 256 million litres of fuel and 560 tonnes of general cargo through the port annually (BIPR 2004: 24).

The BPRP is expected to have a direct effect on the creation of wage employment for Kitikmeot residents. During construction, the BPRP is expected to create 260 jobs, and there is a target to provide thirty percent of these jobs to Inuit workers. During the operations phase, an anticipated 57 jobs will be created. It is expected that fifty percent of operations jobs will be targeted for Inuit workers, and the percentage of Inuit workers would increase up to seventy five percent over ten years. Additionally, spin off businesses, particularly at the port site, are anticipated to create additional employment opportunities in support services and good suppliers.

The Proponents anticipate that construction and operation personnel will work on a two• weeks•in, two•weeks•out rotational work schedule, and that Kitikmeot Region personnel will commute from their homes to the operations or construction camps. Rotational work schedules are designed to maximize available harvesting time for Kitikmeot workers, and to mitigate potential impacts stemming from the interaction between southern workers and Kitikmeot communities. The lack of roads between the BPRP and Kitikmeot communities is also anticipated to mitigate adverse impacts of community exposure to southern personnel.

There is the potential for socio•economic effects as a result of rotational work schedules. The Proponents have identified a potential increase and family violence and potential disruption of the Aboriginal family unit and family cohesion as possible effects (BIPR 2004: 10/14). Also, the Proponents have identified the potential for an increase in drug and alcohol consumption among BPRP workers and in Kitikmeot communities due to increased contact with southern workers who may bring drugs and alcohol into the work camps (BIPR 2004: 6/4). In addition, increased wages and more disposable income might mean more available cash with which to buy drugs or alcohol (BIPR 2004: 6/4). However, increased wages may also serve to offset the typically high cost of living in Kitikmeot communities.

The Proponents also anticipate that the need for skilled labour at the BPRP will encourage local residents to take training and educational programs sponsored by BPRP. These training programs will include skills in the areas of heavy equipment operation and supervisory training. The BPRP will also make a high school diploma a pre•qualification CH •X ANG DF E P

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for work, and it is expected that the prospect of obtaining a high paying job after graduation will encourage more Kitikmeot youth to finish high school (BIPR 2004: 20/24).

The BPRP is not expected to directly impact the hunting, fishing, trapping, and travel activities of Nunavummiut living within the Kitikmeot region. During the construction of the port smaller game such as waterfowl and ground squirrels may be disturbed for a short period which may affect harvesting of those species in the direct area of the port. The construction of the road linking the port to the existing winter road at Contwoyto Lake may produce noise and dust. Dust and noise mitigation measures are proposed, but there is potential that the construction of the road may impact caribou migration, making it more difficult for local hunters to locate the herds. Communities in the Northwest Territories and the Kitikmeot region continue to rely heavily on caribou for subsistence and cultural needs. Mitigation measures include construction periods that do not coincide with caribou migration or calving. Excessive dust may also disturb medicinal and edible plant species located near the proposed road route. There are also concerns that the use of water during road construction may lead to erosion and sedimentation caused by surface runoff, and an increased potential that contaminants would runoff into local surface water resources. There are already concerns regarding the accumulation of contaminants in country foods, and there is a potential for these concerns to increase as a result of road construction and operation.

People in the Kitikmeot Region continue to harvest seals, whales, and other marine mammals. The Proponents have indicated that the effects on sea ice required for seal hunting will not be significant as shipping will occur in the summer months and icebreakers will not be used to extend the shipping season for vessels serving the project. Caribou herds that rely on winter sea ice for migration will likewise not be effected.

BPRP Proponents argue that although there may be a shift from traditional economic pursuits into a wage economy as a result of participation in BPRP activities, the project will open new lands for hunting and will make accessing the land easier for Aboriginal hunters and gatherers. During the construction phase it is estimated that approximately seventy eight Inuit trappers, hunters, and fishers will withdraw from the traditional economy. However, there is also potential that cash earned as a result of wage employment at the BPRP could finance the equipment and fuel needed to undertake traditional harvesting activities.

The Proponents stated that infrastructure created as a result of the BPRP may facilitate the movement of tourists into Nunavut, and particularly the Kitikmeot Region, thereby increasing future tourism potential. However, the owners of the Bathurst Inlet Lodge, one of the worlds top 25 eco•tourism destinations located in the immediate vicinity of the proposed port, believe that the viability of their business would be threatened by the BPRP. The Bathurst Inlet Lodge currently provides thirty nine full and part time jobs (CEAA 2005). CH •X ANG DF E P

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As previously stated, the BPRP is currently under review by the Nunavut Impact Review Board. The Proponent’s EIS submission has been delayed since 2004 due to project revisions.

5.3.6 Polaris Mine The Polaris zinc•lead mine located on Little Cornwallis Island was the most northerly base•metal mine in the world (Natural Resources Canada 2004). The mine, which was owned by Vancouver•based Teck Cominco Ltd. and extracted calcium, lead, and zinc, began operations in November 1981 and mine decommissioning was completed in September 2002. Shipments of mine concentrates were made to Europe during the July through October arctic shipping season. The mine was served by a fleet of ice capable vessels operated by Canarctic Shipping, a division of Fednav Ltd. from Montreal. The MV Arctic, also used in the Bent Horn project and Nanisivik Mine, carried inbound fuel and supplies to Polaris and ore concentrates on its outbound journeys. By 1997, the level of ore production was 152,000 tonnes. At its highest, the mine processed about 1 Million tones of ore per year.

The Polaris mine was one of the most compact operations in Canada (Nunatsiaq News 2001). The processing plant for the mine was built on a barge in Montreal and towed to the mine•site where it was moored in place. Infrastructure included a powerhouse, maintenance services, dry•room, warehouse and operating offices, a concentrate storage building for 11 months of ore production, an airstrip, a conveyer belt, and an accommodation complex housing up to 220 mine personnel. The total land use was approximately 170 hectares (Nunatsiaq News 2001).

Polaris mine began operations with 231 employees in 1981 (Natural Resources Canada 2004). In 1981, a Socio•Economic Action Plan was signed between Cominco Ltd. and the territorial government that set out guidelines to enhance employment and training opportunities for northern residents. Apprenticeship programs and other training initiatives at the mine did not attract the interest of the local populations. In fact, several reports suggest that there was a general lack of interest by local Inuit residents to participate in employment at the Polaris Mine ( Natural Resources Canada 2004, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2006). A report commissioned by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in 2006 suggests that the rotational work schedule of six•weeks•in, two• weeks•out was unattractive to most Inuit as it affected family and related community dynamics and the ability to hunt. According to the same study, in 1984 only one Inuk from Grise Fiord and one Inuk from Ranken Inlet were employed at the Polaris Mine (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 2006: 4).

Just prior to decommissioning, the Polaris Mine employed a total of two hundred and forty people, including contractors and subcontractors. In the sealift season, up to twenty to twenty five northerners from Resolute and other Nunavut communities were employees of the mine. Throughout the life of the mine, Polaris did change its work rotational schedule from an eight•weeks•in and four•weeks out, and Inuit employees had the option to work a six•weeks•in, and three•weeks out work schedule. Most people who worked at Polaris mine were flown in from or Ottawa for rotational shifts. CH •X ANG DF E P

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As a result of the relatively low number of Inuit workers employed at the mine, direct job losses as a result of the closure of the mine were slight (Nunatsiaq News 2001). However, the impact on spin•off businesses as a result of the closure of Polaris mine was more significant. According to a study commissioned by the Government of the Northwest Territories, more than thirty percent of jobs in Resolute are related to mine activities (Government of the Northwest Territories 1997). A Resolute company, Narwhal Arctic Services, employed fourteen workers in Resolute and had a contract with the mine to handle freight and luggage that landed at the Resolute airport en•route to Polaris. Hotel services, including a hotel owned by Narwhal Arctic Services (Narwhal Inn) also used to accommodate mine workers coming through Resolute on their shift changes.

For mine closure and remediation, the Inuit owned firm Qikiqtaaluk Corporation was subcontracted under SNC Lavalin to provide equipment operators, general laborers, and mechanics. Local residents were also trained in environmental site assessment skills and assisted in guiding and assessing the effectiveness of the mine reclamation.

In terms of the regional economy, the lease•fees paid by Polaris went to the federal government in Ottawa, as the mine was on Crown land. The mine was required to pay corporate income tax to the Government of Nunavut, and mine workers paid some money to the Government of Nunavut through payroll taxes. The Polaris mine itself paid less than one percent of their total resupply and service costs in the north (Government of the Northwest Territories 1997).

Though there is no evidence that the cost of freight was reduced to the community of Resolute as a result of the Polaris Mine, the mine did provide better air transportation services for the residents of Resolute. provided 727 jet service two to three times per week from Ottawa (by way of Iqaluit) and 737 jet service twice a week from Edmonton. After the mine closed, First Air –which transported Polaris workers and freight between the mine•site and the south –canceled their direct flights from Edmonton to Resolute. The decrease in air transportation services is expected to impact tourism industries and hotels in Resolute, though the scientific research station and associated researchers provide still provide business to the Resolute Bay Airport.

Teck Cominco Ltd., also contributed to Resolute infrastructure and services during the life of the mine. In 1990 Cominco was approached by the community to make a donation to build a local gymnasium, and Cominco Ltd. contributed $100,000 toward building a new community gym. The mine also provided scholarships to Resolute youth who graduated from high school and wanted to pursue post•secondary education (Nunatsiaq News 2001).

Generally speaking, few Nunavummiut received direct benefits from the Polaris Mine. The mine employed few Nunavummiut workers, and Impact and Benefits agreements existed, but they were not enforced. For the most part, outsource contracts were not provided for Inuit businesses, and other than corporate income taxes, the Government of Nunavut did not receive any income from the mine activities (Impact Economics 2005: CH •X ANG DF E P

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41). The closure of Polaris Mine did affect some spin•off businesses such as freight and service personnel at the Resolute Bay Airport and the volume of visitors to the hotels in the community.

5.3.7 Mackenzie Valley Highway A case study involving a literature review of the anticipated social, economic, and related environmental effects surrounding changes in road transportation infrastructure was selected for this report. The Mackenzie Valley Highway Extension (MVHE) was selected as a proxy for increased shipping access in the Canadian Arctic. While the MVHE involves ground (road) transportation, it can also offer valuable insights into potential social, economic, and environmental effects of changes in transportation infrastructure in remote communities in the Canadian north.

Public Works Canada originally planned to complete the construction of the Mackenzie Highway from Fort Simpson to the Dempster Highway near Inuvik in a four year period from 1972•1976. However, construction of the Mackenzie Highway was only completed to a point south of the community of Wrigley. Presently, the communities of Tulita, Norman Wells, Deline, Fort Good Hope, Colville Lake in the central Mackenzie region can only be reached by winter road from December until April. The only all weather road to Tsiigehtchic and Inuvik is the Dempster highway, an all weather road connecting Inuvik to communities in the Yukon. Discussions about extending the Mackenzie Highway have continued since construction was ceased in 1976, and the Government of the Northwest Territories has recently conducted several scoping sessions to review the cost•benefit of extending the road. The original construction plan by Public Works Canada was stalled in large part because of uncertainty about economic prospects in the central Mackenzie region (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999a).

The current consideration for the construction of an all weather road through the Mackenzie Valley (the Mackenzie Valley Highway Extension, or MVHE) involves building an 814 km all•weather road from Wrigley to the Dempster Highway, with a possible side route to Deline. Depending on the design selection, and whether the Deline spur route would be included in the initial proposal, the total cost for the construction of the MVHE would be somewhere between 400 and 500 million dollars (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999a). It has been argued that a ‘Community Construction’ approach be adopted, meaning that construction would take place over a ten year period with an approximate $1 million per year construction project conducted in each of the five Mackenzie Valley communities on an annual basis. The Community Construction approach would shift the focus away from simple road construction to long•term economic development, provide a modest stimulus to local economies, and generate additional business and local labor income (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999b).

It is anticipated that the MVHE would generate employment and income benefits to the region through the hiring of construction workers and project spending on wages, materials, and supplies during construction. This may be especially beneficial for CH •X ANG DF E P

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Mackenzie Valley communities, where unemployment is relatively high. It is estimated that the construction of the MVHE would generate between $41 million and $85 million in business and labor income, and that the on•going road maintenance and operation would provide regional businesses and workers with an additional $1.4 million to $2.8 million annually(Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation, 2005). The current maintenance of the winter road by the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation is approximately $10,000 per km, or between 2.2 and 4.4 million annually (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999a).

There is also an expectation that the construction of an all•weather highway loop connecting to the Dempster Highway would generate increased tourism in the region. At the same time, tourism industries will need to spend money to supply products desired by tourists including restaurants, tour operator supplies, wholesale groceries, and fuel (Government of the Northwest territories Department of Transportation 1999a).

It is anticipated that the completion of an all•weather road will also encourage intensified resource development in the Mackenzie Valley, as would increased shipping access. Currently, the costs associated with oil and gas exploration and production, and resupplying work•sites are considered a major inhibitor in hydrocarbon and mineral exploration. Easier access to resources may cut costs for firms looking to explore and develop resource deposits. In addition, the MVHE is expected to reduce transportation costs for oil and gas companies and reduce stand•by costs that companies incur while equipment and supplies idle during ice freeze•up and break•up cycles.

Currently most goods for both community resupply and supplies for resource exploration sites are shipped by barge with sealift providing a substantial portion of resupply activity during the summer months. In the central Mackenzie Valley, barge is bar far the cheapest mode of transportation on a per tonne basis (Lonergan et al. 1993). Barges currently provide cargo transportation up the Mackenzie River from Hay River, and are almost exclusively owned and operated by the Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL). The only rail line in the Northwest Territories ends in Hay River, and goods are often transferred from rail cars to the barges docked on the Mackenzie River. This inter• modal transportation necessitates costs for storage and the transfer of cargo from one mode of transport to another. The MVHE is likely to reduce the costs of storage for wholesalers (both in Hay River and the communities in the Mackenzie Valley) and reduce the need for large inventories. However, the possibility exists that once completed, the MVHE could divert cargo demand from NTCL.

It is likely that the price of food and other goods in the communities of Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, and Deline would be reduced as storage costs and transportation costs decrease. Also, there would be an increased quality and variety of goods available, and communities would likely have more reliable resupply.

It is also likely that transportation of individuals would increase, and that people would travel more frequently. People, businesses, and public sector organizations including CH •X ANG DF E P

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people in need of health services in the Mackenzie Valley communities would have greater access to communities in the south (Government of the Northwest territories Department of Transportation 1999a).

The results of the cost•benefits analysis conducted by the Government of the Northwest Territories indicates, however, that the financial capital required for the MVHE road extension and operation compared with the economic benefits indicated that the MVHE is not viable from an economic perspective (Government of the Northwest territories Department of Transportation 1999a). The report does, however, go on to say that economic considerations should not be the only variable included in the MVHE assessment as public investments in infrastructure are conducted for both economic and social reasons.

Generally speaking, many communities (with the exception of Deline) are in favour of an all weather road through the Mackenzie Valley (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 2005). However, community members have also raised concerns surrounding anticipated environmental and social impacts as a result of the MVRE. It is recognized that along with greater access to communities, there is the potential for increased availability of drugs and alcohol. The Government of the Northwest Territories reports that “Elders remember previous pipeline and highway projects and the social impacts they had on the Mackenzie Valley communities, and do not want the impacts to be repeated”(Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 2005). Concerns have also been raised about increased prostitution, family violence, gambling, and loss of traditional values. Elders in the community of Deline have voiced their opposition to a side road to Deline because they are concerned about the impact of an all•weather road on traditional activities (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 2005).

Other communities have expressed concerns over MVRE impacts to wildlife populations, and particularly the effects of mortality related to collisions on moose, caribou, and bears, and increased hunting and fishing pressure as a result of illegal harvesting. Inuvik residents are concerned that the road will allow hunters increased access to the Bluenose caribou herd’s winter range near Travaillant Lake, and there have been proposals to move the MVRE to avoid this area(Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 2005). Residents of Fort Good Hope have expressed concerns regarding the loss of moose habitat, the obstruction of caribou migrations, pollution, and the effects of increased hunting stresses (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 2005).

The MVHE project has not been formally submitted to regulatory authorities in the Northwest Territories. While the Government of the Northwest Territories has been actively assessing the economic feasibility of the project, and potential environmental, socio•economic, and cultural impacts that an all•weather road through the Mackenzie Valley would bring, to make the project feasible would likely require an investment of private or federal funding sources. CH •X ANG DF E P

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5.4 Case Study Common Findings Although the above case studies represent diverse types of shipping activities, there are several trends that can be identified as likely larger social, economic, and related environmental consequences of increased shipping in Canadian Arctic marine waters. These trends would follow increased access to Canadian Arctic marine waters as a result of decreasing•sea ice and easier sea transport. The following presents identified common findings of the above case studies in relation to the previously identified key types of shipping activities:

5.4.1 Resource Development and the Economy

i) Increased marine shipping infrastructure is likely to induce resource development One of the most significant challenges for resource economics in the Canadian Arctic is its harsh climate, ocean•bound ice, and remote nature. The costs and challenges of transporting equipment, goods and people to work•sites, and of transporting commodities produced in the region to outside markets, are significant. For example, the government of Nunavut has cited the lack of sufficient port infrastructure as one of the major challenges to developing the Nunavut fishery. Likewise, increased port infrastructure (and the coordination of inter•modal forms of transportation such as ship and jet services) may result in increased cruise•ship tourism in the Canadian Arctic.

Several proposed marine infrastructure projects are expected to induce resource development in the Canadian Arctic:

· A major aim of the proposed BIPR project is to attract further capital investment in the exploration and development of new mines; · The federal government has proposed $8 million to build a commercial fishing harbor in Pangnirtung to boost Nunavut’s turbot and shrimp fishery; · The federal government has provided $100 million to refurbish the Nanisivik port for military purposes, but also to serve as a refueling station for cruise ships and other civilian vessels; · The MVHE would generate tourism in the Central Mackenzie Valley region by forming a loop with the Dempster Highway, and encourage intensified resource development by enhancing reliability and reducing costs for resupply of hydrocarbon exploration sites. The MVHE is expected to reduce transportation costs and reduce stand•by costs that companies incur while equipment and supplies idle during ice freeze•up and break•up cycles.

At the same time, the intensification of resource development economies can also lead to increased marine shipping activities. The Nanisivik mine and Polaris mine increased ship traffic in their respective regions by the shipment of ore concentrates from the mine•sites to the south for processing. Likewise, the Bent Horn project required tanker vessels to ship oil to a Montreal refinery. However, in these cases the increase in actual ship traffic to and from the exploration and production sites was relatively minimal. CH •X ANG DF E P

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Hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in increased marine shipping activity, and the development or improvement of marine shipping infrastructure such as the port at Tuktoyaktuk. Future hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Beaufort Sea will result in increased shipping in that area.

ii) There is potential for opportunities and challenges between resource development economies as a result of increased Arctic marine shipping While increased Arctic marine infrastructure is likely to result in opportunities for all sectors of the resource economy, there is also potential for challenges and competition between resource development sectors. As the Churchill Port case study demonstrates, the challenge of balancing tourism and trade economies, for example, or tourism and intensified marine infrastructure such as ports can lead to potential conflicts. For instance, in Churchill, while the dredging of the port site is important for the maintenance of the port facilities, it also has the potential to alter the marine ecosystem which may have negative effects on beluga whale populations –an important marine mammal species for wildlife tours.

Likewise, the Beaufort Sea case study demonstrates potential stressors between tourists who come to view beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea, increased shipping as a result of regional hydrocarbon exploration activities, and local Inuit harvesters who rely on beluga whales harvesting as an important cultural, spiritual, and subsistence activity.

In terms of Nunavut fisheries, increased marine infrastructure and shipping activities may enhance local tourism economies and Nunavummiut participation in the fisheries sector, however, increased ship traffic and environmental pollution may also pose a threat to fish exports that are marketed as coming from pristine environments.

iii) There is a relationship between the presence of additional transportation infrastructure, marine transportation infrastructure, and the development of local economies There is a direct relationship between the presence of marine transportation infrastructure, additional transportation infrastructure, and the development of local economies. In other words, the presence of multiple forms of transportation options has the potential to increase the flow of goods and supplies, and may lead to increased tourism potential in the Canadian Arctic.

In terms of inter•modal transportation, the Government of the Northwest Territories argues that there is a direct relationship between the existence of an all weather road near a mine site and increased northern expenditures by the mining companies. In large part, this is because northern businesses can participate in contracts to build winter roads, but do not have the capital or experience to operate marine•only operations and supply (Government of the Northwest Territories 1997). For example, both the Polaris and Nanisivik mines, which both relied almost exclusively on marine transportation services (with the exception of a 21km all weather road linking Nanisivik to Arctic Bay), less than one percent of the mine purchases for operations were made in the north. CH •X ANG DF E P

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As seen in the Churchill Port case study, the linkages provided by coordinated rail, ship, and jet service also contributes to increased tourism potential and inter•regional transportation of goods and supplies. The Nanisivik port and frequent jet services associated with the Nanisivik mine also provided increased tourism potential by allowing cruise•ship passengers to arrive and/or depart utilizing differing modes of transport. Coordinated inter•modal transportation may also facilitate the increased transport of community resupply goods as seen by the linkages between the Churchill port and storage facilities and the rail connection to southern markets.

In addition to marine transportation infrastructure, such as ports, investment in cold storage infrastructure and processing facilities may increase Nunavut fisheries potential. The ability to store and process fish and fish products in Nunavut would assist in capturing additional fisheries revenue that is presently leaked outside of the territory.

5.4.2 Community Resupply

i) Increased Arctic marine shipping will improve reliability and costs of community resupply for people living in coastal Canadian Arctic communities As demonstrated earlier in resource development and the economy, improved Arctic marine transportation infrastructure and increased Arctic marine shipping will result in increased reliability and decreased costs of community resupply.

The Nanisivik mine case study reveals that the Nanisivik’s port facility provided for more frequent and less expensive shipping for the residents of Arctic Bay as a result of an increase in ship traffic due to mine resupply. Likewise, hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea resulted in increased tug and barge traffic and increased freight resulting in reduced shipping costs. Several proposed infrastructure projects are also expected to enhance reliability and reduce costs of community resupply including the proposed BIPR and MVHE projects.

As a result of infrastructure investment and the connection between inter•modal transportation linkages, the Churchill Port has become a major NTCL distribution centre for the central Arctic. Infrastructure at Tuktoyaktuk harbor, developed in large part as a result of hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea, has also become a hub of community resupply for nearby coastal communities in the western and central Canadian Arctic.

ii) Community marine resupply is likely to change in direct relationship to the development of resource•based economies While improved Arctic marine transportation infrastructure and increased Arctic marine shipping is likely to result in increased reliability and decreased costs of community supply, much of the change in community resupply ship traffic is related to resource development economies. For example, while Arctic Bay did see increased reliability and reduced costs for community resupply while the Nanisivik mine was operating, much of the increased ship and jet service was directly related to mine activities. Nanisivik mine personnel and mine resupply needs was directly related to the volume of ship and jet CH •X ANG DF E P

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traffic coming to the Arctic Bay airport and Nanisivik port facilities. When the Nanisivik mine was decommissioned the ship and jet traffic was also reduced, resulting in increased transportation and resupply costs for the community of Arctic Bay. Likewise, when hydrocarbon exploration in the Beaufort Sea slowed in the mid 1980s, the volume of freight and number of vessels also decreased. As reported previously, in 1988 resupply barges on the Mackenzie River carried half of their 1982 peak volume (Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Transportation 1999a: 341).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada have also reported that other than an increase in tourism over the past twenty years, and a recent upsurge in oil and gas related activities, there has been little change to the size or nature of barge companies offering community resupply services (Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2003).

5.4.3 Internationalization of Shipping

i) Integrated and cooperative management of Canadian Arctic marine shipping routes on local, regional, national, and international levels will be essential in the event of increased Arctic marine shipping activities. Berkes and Fast write that “Co•management involves the sharing of responsibilities among the expanded set of players in governance; it involves networks and partnerships of a diversity of actors and their institutions. Co•management may be defined as the sharing of power and responsibility between the government and local resources users, or a system that enables a sharing of decision•making power, responsibility and risk between government and stakeholders (Berkes and Fast 2005: 14). As we have seen in the Bent Horn and Beaufort Sea case studies, the effective participation of local communities at all stages of project planning, development, execution, and remediation can result in long•term benefits for both industry and local communities.

As seen in the section on Nunavut fisheries, the Government of Nunavut argues that the current jurisdiction and management of Nunavut•adjacent waters limits local participation in offshore fisheries and fisheries management and asserts that increased local control over off•shore fisheries would result in an increased economic benefit for Nunavut communities. Additionally, the Government of Nunavut argues for strong bi• lateral relationships with Greenland to engage in fisheries management planning, given the shared fish stocks in Davis Straight and Baffin Bay.

In the western Arctic, legislation such as the Beaufort Sea Beluga Management Plan, have successfully integrated local community needs into multi•lateral domestic marine management plans. Management issues addressed in the Beaufort Sea Beluga Management Plan include oil, gas, and mining exploration, production and development, seismic and sounding surveys, vessel movements, helicopter and fixed•wing flights ice breaking, port development, shipping routes possible future commercial fisheries development, and contaminant levels in marine waters and animals, among others.

ii) Clarification of jurisdictional issues is key in establishing integrated and cooperative management of Arctic marine shipping CH •X ANG DF E P

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Given that increased shipping Arctic marine shipping activities will likely precipitate resource and industrial development in Canadian Arctic waters, there is a general impetus for the consideration and clarification of jurisdiction and management of marine transportation in high latitude waters. Relatively recent events, such as the settlement of many comprehensive land claims across northern Canada, and the implementation of resource management regimes will contribute to increased Canadian management and jurisdiction over Canadian Arctic waters, as will the development of Arctic marine transportation infrastructure such as the BIPR and the deep•sea port at the Nanisivik mine site. In addition, as Westermeyer and Goyal (1986: 338) point out, although the and Canada have taken differing positions regarding the jurisdiction of Arctic waters, the two countries share concerns about increase shipping in high latitude waters, and there may be promising alternatives for jurisdiction and management in the future.

6. Discussion and Conclusions

6.1 Uncertainty, Management, and Communication Arctic marine shipping is one of many factors affecting, or with the potential to affect, the lives of Arctic residents (Section 2.2, Section 3). Predicting exactly how various developments in shipping will affect Arctic communities is difficult at best. For example, there is insufficient information to describe current local human uses of the Arctic marine environment adequately enough to assess the range of likely effects of marine shipping, and researchers cannot anticipate all potential information needs when conducting studies in advance. Rather, findings of the kind presented in this chapter can be used to identify areas of potential conflict or interaction between local uses and marine shipping, but further studies should be done of specific areas where shipping activities are planned, in which the details of shipping and current local uses can be compared and evaluated for potential impacts and mitigation strategies.

Many things are changing at the same time, and the effects of one element cannot easily be separated from the effects of other changes or their combined effects (e.g., Huntington et al. 2007a, b). Changes in climate that may drive increases in at least some kinds of marine shipping are also affecting the activities of Arctic indigenous peoples in numerous ways (e.g., Huntington and Fox 2005, Nuttall 2005). Social and economic changes have led to major changes in indigenous and other Arctic communities over the past century and more, and will continue to do so (AHDR 2004). Section 5 of this report describes some of the ways in which the effects of marine shipping and related activities can propagate through social systems, with costs and benefits that will not be equally shared by all communities or all individuals.

In the face of uncertainty about what activities will take place, what effects those activities will have, and what other factors will be involved, a collaborative management approach and carefully planning are required to identify and respond to negative impacts and to identify and harness positive benefits (e.g., Section 2.1, Section 5, Baffrey and CH •X ANG DF E P

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Huntington in press). One hallmark of the collaborative approach is that it is adaptive in the sense that it allows for adjustments and alterations based on experience and evaluation as changes take place, rather than creating a fixed system for addressing anticipated issues that may turn out to be ineffective when unanticipated events occur (e.g., Heifeitz and Linsky 2002).

An advantage of substantive local involvement is that local residents are often best positioned to weigh the many factors affecting them (e.g., Brunner et al. 2004). Section.2.1 describes the consequences when local capacity for addressing a problem is lacking, a situation exacerbated in that case by the lack of any larger precedent or system for response or accountability. Section 5 reviews several cases where local involvement in planning or carrying out shipping•related activities was higher, generally with better results for the communities in question. Baffrey and Huntington (in press) described similar outcomes with regard to the social and economic effects of oil and gas activities in the Arctic: greater local control and involvement led to reduced negative impacts and increased positive benefits for local residents.

One component of local involvement is communication. Many of the participants in the Town Hall Meetings (Section 4) asked for better information about cruise ship visits, trans•shipping plans, and so on. Effective communication and continued interaction has been found to be important in oil and gas activities (Baffrey and Huntington in press) and in tourism in the Arctic (e.g., Huntington et al. 2007c). Communication can help reduce the number of surprises for all involved, and early identification of problems can allow more time for resolution.

As noted earlier, projection of shipping activities and their impacts is difficult due to the interactions of numerous factors in the environment and in human society (e.g., AHDR 2004, ACIA 2005, Baffrey and Huntington in press). To some extent, researchers need to develop better methods for studying combined effects of these kinds, just as regulators need to develop better methods for balancing multiple management objectives. Just as importantly, those involved in marine shipping in any capacity need to recognize that flexibility and adaptiveness will be required to recognize and address challenges, problems, and opportunities that arise. 6.2 Types of Impacts and Interactions Marine shipping encompasses a wide range of activities, taking place in different locations and seasons and with differing degrees of local involvement and effects. The quantity of shipping, likewise, may determine whether effects are largely beneficial or otherwise, and also who is most affected. For example, limited tourist traffic may provide a modest economic opportunity for local artists and handcraft makers, whereas higher levels of traffic may have environmental or other impacts that offset any benefits (e.g., Huntington et al. 2007c). As noted earlier, the details of effects will depend greatly on the details of shipping and the characteristics of specific times and places. Nonetheless, the case studies in this chapter and studies of other types of activities, such as mineral and petroleum development, suggest some observations about what can be expected from increases in Arctic marine shipping. CH •X ANG DF E P

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First, the impacts of shipping depend greatly on the type of shipping, the season(s) in which it occurs, and the locations. Transshipping done in ice•free conditions and largely offshore may have few or no local effects, barring an accident. Nonetheless, as the Aleutian Region has experienced (Section 2.1), accidents can and should be expected, prepared for, and responded to promptly and effectively. This is especially true in narrow waterways such as the Bering Strait, passages through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and straits on the Northern Sea Route. In these places, ships must travel close to land and may well encounter local hunters or travelers out in boats. In addition, proximity to communities means proximity to hunting areas and the animals that people depend upon, so the potential for environmental impacts is correspondingly higher in these areas (Section 4). Tourism, too, is likely to take place largely or exclusively in the ice•free season (with the exception of icebreaker voyages to the North Pole), though cruise ships are likely to visit communities or areas of high biological activity such as bird colonies or marine mammal haul•outs.

Shipping to and from destinations within the Arctic is also largely done during the ice• free season, with important exceptions in the Russian Arctic as well as occasional icebreaker transits throughout the region. As noted in Section 3, ice•breaking can interfere with over•ice travel by hunters and others and so is potentially a more significant impact than are open•water transits. Icebreaker activity may increase as mineral and petroleum resources are developed in the region, which might make interactions with local travelers more common. Here, too, the potential for environmental impacts is high, both from accidents and from destruction to key habitats such as areas where seals or polar bears make ice dens for bearing young. As with transshipping, the potential for local impacts is greatest near shore, particularly in narrow passages and straits.

Effects, too, come in several forms. Economically, more shipping may increase trade or lower costs for Arctic communities, while increased resource development can provide employment and income for Arctic residents and regions (Sections 4, Section 5). As has been noted with regard to oil and gas activities in the Arctic, economic benefits may be considerable and can have a number of secondary effects, such as increased local capacity to provide social, cultural, and health services as well as construct and maintain infrastructure (Baffrey and Huntington in press).

Socially, increased economic activity and resource development can (but does not necessarily) lead to population growth through immigration, which can create social tension between newcomers and indigenous or other long•time residents (Baffrey and Huntington in press). Often, those moving to the Arctic for employment are young men, creating a gender imbalance in the local population, which can exacerbate tensions and social problems. Changes in income, too, are often associated with increases in drug and alcohol abuse as well as domestic violence and other crime. Many of these negative impacts can be address largely or in part by establishing rotational work schedules, with workers traveling to the region for work shifts of one to several weeks and returning to CH •X ANG DF E P

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their home communities during the periods they are off, or by physical separation between a community and a development site (Section 5).

Environmental effects are often the greatest concern from increased industrial activity of any kind, whether resource development or shipping. The environmental effects of Arctic marine shipping are addressed in other chapters of this assessment, but it is important to note that loss of hunting opportunities and degradation of the environment can have substantial impacts on local communities (Section 2, Section 3, Section 4, Section 5). Concern about these types of impacts can by itself cause stress, especially when hunting and other traditional activities are seen as pillars of cultural continuity but also under threat from other social and environmental changes.

The cultural effects of shipping and development may therefore be generally anticipated to be negative (Section 4), but this is not necessarily the case. Environmental impacts and greater assimilation from exposure to outside influences can cause cultural loss, but tourism can boost local cultural awareness and pride and greater economic well•being can allow investments in cultural programs (e.g., Huntington et al. 2007c, Baffrey and Huntington in press).

As noted in the previous section, the difference between negative impacts and positive or neutral ones is often a question of planning and preparation. A large influx of cash into a community can create a boom•and•bust atmosphere, with minimal investment for the long•term and a host of social problems in the short•term. The same economic boom can also be harnessed to produce lasting benefits. Doing so successfully requires extensive local involvement in the planning process, so that local concerns and ideas can be fully incorporated. Not all marine shipping activities will be beneficial for Arctic residents, and some are likely to have negative impacts. Nonetheless, careful attention to good communication and collaborative approaches to management can help keep increases in shipping activity from causing undue stress and harm to Arctic peoples and may result in benefits to many areas. CH •X ANG DF E P

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Tables

Table 4#2.2.a Per capita harvests of wild resources from three Aleut Communities, with percent contribution from various classes of marine resources (from Fall et al. 1993a, b, 1996).

Community Per capita % from % from % from % from % from harvest salmon other marine birds and marine (kg) fishes invertebrates eggs mammals Sand Point 115.9 54 21 7 2 2 King Cove 116.0 53 17 7 4 1 False Pass 186.9 47 15 6 4 6

Table 4#4.a Locations and dates of AMSA Town Hall meetings

Location Date Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada April 2006 June 2008 Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada August 2006 Unjárga/Nesseby, Norway September 2007 Billavuotna/Billefjord, Porsanger, Norway September 2007 Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada June 2008 Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada June 2008 Resolute, Nunavut, Canada June 2008 Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada June 2008 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada June 2008

Figures Figure 4#2.1.a The container of tetraethylene glycol diheptanoate that washed ashore on Bering Island. (Courtesy Aleut International Association, from the Nikolskoye Administration)

Figure 4#2.2.a Extent of use of the marine environment for local harvests by residents of Sand Point, Alaska. The areas used are for harvests as well as travel, but do not include commercial fishing activities, which extend much farther from the community (from Fall et al. 1993a).

Figure 4#2.4.a Annual range and migratory routes of the Beaufort Sea beluga population. (to be obtained!)

Figure 4#2.6.a Nutendli land use in the Lower Kolyma area, Republic of Sakha•Yakutia, Russian Federation

RED LINE = Nutendli migration route, arrow indicates direction CH •X ANG DF E P

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1 = Approximate locations of the nuclear•powered lighthouses in the Kolyma delta 2 = A camp site used in July 3 = Summer pastures and camp of Nutendli in summer 4 = Subsistence fish camp of Nutendli 5 = A border between local nature conservation area and the Indigenous territory of Nutendli © Map by redrawn by Johanna Roto from a map by Vyatcheslav Kemlil, Snowchange Cooperative, 2007. Used with permission.

Figure 4#3.3.3.a Area used by Inuit in the then•Northwest Territories (now Northwest Territories and Nunavut), as documented in the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Report (Freeman 1976). Note that all potential routes of the Northwest Passage go through portions of the Inuit use area.

Figure 4#3.3.4.a Traplines maintained in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, from 1955• 1974 (Freeman 1976).

Figure 4#3.3.4.b Area used by Inuit from Coppermine, Northwest Territories (now Kugluktuk, Nunavut), as documented in the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Report (Freeman 1976).