The Geoscience for Ocean Management Program (GOM) will deliver the geoscience knowledge base for informed decision making in Canadas offshore lands, to ensure that natural resource development does not harm the environment and that appropriate land-use decisions are made balancing social, economic and environmental considerations. This will be achieved by compiling existing surficial seafloor geoscience data, developing new mapping standards and conducting integrated surveys of high priority areas to produce maps, data bases and interpretive reports to empowering stakeholders, clients and partners with the knowledge base to implement integrated ocean management. The Canada Oceans Act and the Canada Ocean Strategy provide the legislative and strategic framework within which integrated management of Canadian territory can be extended to the offshore.

Underpinning the GOM program is a systematic approach to seafloor mapping to deliver geoscience knowledge for Integrated Ocean Management; as encapsulated in the SeaMap proposal, an interdepartmental (DFO/NRCan) program to systematically map Canadas offshore lands. Extensive client consultations across Canada demonstrated urgent need for geoscience ocean knowledge that exceeds program capacity to deliver. A national program has been developed that focuses on priority areas that have multiple land use issues or where large-scale projects require extensive multi-disciplinary knowledge.

Within these constraints, projects will address four themes: integrated management of large ocean areas, assessment of hazard potential and environmental impact of infrastructure, developing predictive models of geoscience control on benthic habitat distribution, and assessing human impact on marine environmental quality.

• East Coast Offshore Geohazards

  Offshore Eastern Canada is experiencing increased offshore development to meet North American energy demands. There is growing interest in new hydrocarbon basins, many in greater than 1000 metres of water. Federal knowledge on the nature and severity of geohazards (bedform stability, iceberg scour frequency, susceptibility of seabed to slope failure and shallow water landslides) will be a critical factor in the decision to open these lands to exploration or approve new development plans. The project focuses on key knowledge gaps in the new frontier - the Sable, Laurentian and Jeanne dArc sub-basins; and Scotian and Newfoundland deep-water margins. It will provide regulators, federal departments and industry with a knowledge base (maps, databases and interpretative reports) to assess geohazard risk, set regulatory policy and evaluate development plans. Project activities will be communicated to stakeholders through briefings and workshops. Project outputs also contribute geoscience for integrated ocean management including issues of multiple seabed use, Marine Protected Areas and benthic habitat.

• Ocean Management of Queen Charlotte Basin

  Government consideration of lifting the moratorium on hydrocarbon exploration in Queen Charlotte Basin and the proposal to develop marine based wind farms has heightened the need for geoscience information for informed decision-making. Significant geohazards need to be mapped and assessed and areas of unique and critical habitat need to be identified prior to the opening of the basin to exploitation. These new initiatives will inevitably be in conflict with traditional and conventional commercial fisheries and take place in an area that is subject to the most significant earthquake activity in Canada as well as containing globally significant ecological habitat (sponge reefs, Gwaii Hannas National Marine Park).

  Consequently, habitat characterisation for Ocean Management of competing resource industries and the protection (MPAs) of globally unique habitats is critical for the future ecological health of the region. The inter-departmental integration of geoscience, biology and oceanography to deliver Canadas Ocean Strategy will ensure that ocean management decisions balance the competing demands of renewable and non-renewable resources with conservation through digitally accessible outputs.
  

• Marine Environmental Quality in Eastern Canada

  This project assesses effects of human activities in marine environments. It provides decision makers with geoscience information to resolve user conflicts and balance competing demands with conservation. We focus on sites with differing degrees of human impact, management, and user conflict: the Bras d'Or Lakes, NS (inland sea under development pressure), Argentia, NL (former military area being industrialized), coastal waters impacted by dredging and dumping, and sites contaminated by mineral processing. The project responds to stakeholders with mandates to manage marine environments: industry, provincial & federal government departments, First Nations, and others. The contribution to program outputs consists of maps conforming to new marine-mapping protocols, databases in high-priority areas, conceptual models and reports. The primary outcome will be that ocean-management decisions by stakeholders will be based on sound scientific information collected by Natural Resources Canada.

• Beaufort Sea Geohazards

  This project will provide the geoscience knowledge to assess geohazard potential and environmental impacts of drilling and pipeline engineering activities in the Beaufort Sea and along its coastlines. Key geohazards as identified by stakeholders include coastal and near shore stability, ice scouring, sub sea and coastal permafrost, marine clay performance under load, shallow gas hazards, artificial island stability and habitat/ecosystem sensitivity. The project will review existing data and carry out targeted surveys to generate digital maps, databases and interpretive reports in accordance with NRCan IT/IM standards. Methodology focuses on the application of state-of-the-art digital multibeam and GIS mapping technologies to geohazard assessments to meet stakeholder requirements. The project outputs will provide the basis for timely and informed decisions for public health and safety and environmental protection aimed at ensuring sustainable development.

• National Marine Mapping and Informatics Strategy

  A national sea floor mapping strategy will be developed through coordination with all Geoscience for Oceans Management (GOM) project teams, other federal departments, academia, and the private sector. This strategy will be used as a template for the outputs produced by all projects within the GOM program. Sea floor map standards will be established for the collection, processing and dissemination of high-resolution data. These standards will present a common "look and feel" to map production developed in all projects within the GOM.

  This project will deliver, through the adaptation and development of ocean engineering technologies, standard methods to accelerate and enhance the delivery of all projects within the GOM. New approaches to data synthesis will be created in an aligned research effort. Informatics strategies, for use by all projects within the program, will be developed and defined to ensure overall programmatic compliance with departmental informatics policies.

• Geology of Eastern Scotian Shelf

  This project would provide the geoscience knowledge base to facilitate an integrated Ocean Management strategy for the Scotian Shelf. This area is one of diverse activity involving fisheries, defense, hydrocarbon, and communications stakeholders and encompasses the first Marine Protected Area. The potential for conflict of use or excessive environmental impact is reflected in Canadas Oceans Act incorporating the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management.

  NRCan's geological foundation data and knowledge would be consolidated and, through partnership with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, integrated with benthic biotic data to produce publicly accessible regional and site-specific digital geologic maps and derive benthic habitat maps. These outputs would empower other government departments and stakeholders to utilize NRCan products to contribute towards sustainable oceans management by providing the framework to address issues of conflicting seabed use, potential marine protected areas, mineral resource assessment, regional geoconditions framework for hydrocarbon industry and benthic habitat assessment.

• Benthic Habitat Mapping

  The benthic (seabed) habitat-mapping project will develop predictive models of geoscience controls on benthic habitat distribution and deliver high-resolution benthic habitat and geological maps for the Gulf of Maine. Past demonstration partnership projects with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the commercial fishing industry have proven the utility of habitat mapping techniques and applications to fisheries management. The present project will capitalize on a $6 million survey database encompassing 19,100 square kilometres of the Gulf of Maine. The mapping will include major banks in the Gulf of Maine, extend the proof of concept to a broad range of environments, develop predictive models and deliver the first regional-scale, high-resolution benthic habitat maps in Canada. This project will provide, for the first time, the knowledge base to effectively manage offshore fisheries, evaluate marine protected areas, minimize environmental impact of offshore development, and resolve sea floor use conflicts.

• Ocean Management of the Georgia Basin

  The project's intent is to build on the success of the Georgia Basin Geohazards Initiative to provide the marine geoscientific maps, data and interpretive reports necessary for balanced ocean management of the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca. This is the most densely populated and economically important coastal region in Canada characterized by competing development and conservation interests. Geoscientific information is not only in demand from project proponents but also required for resolving conflicts over sea floor use and necessary for informed decision making by regulators of the National Energy Board, Fisheries and Oceans, and Environment Canada. Delivery of maps and reports based on standard techniques developed in project 8175 and consultation through inter-departmental working groups will ensure that ocean management decisions balance the competing demands of renewable and non-renewable resources with conservation in this economically vital region.