New aerial surveillance equipment now operating over Eastern Canada
Transport Canada keeps a watchful eye over ships transiting Canadian waters through its National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP). The NASP is the primary tool for detecting ship-source pollution in waters under Canadian jurisdiction. Evidence gathered by NASP crews is used by Transport Canada and Environment Canada to enforce the provisions of all Canadian legislation applicable to illegal discharges from ships, including the Canada Shipping Act and the Migratory Birds Convention Act.
Read more on the Aerial Surveillance Program.
The deliberate illegal discharge of oily wastes from ships traveling in Canadian waters poses a serious threat to the conservation and protection of the marine environment. It is estimated that ten per cent of the 30 million seabirds that winter off the coast of Newfoundland each year die as a result of oil contamination, and significant negative impacts are also possible off the west coast. ISTOP aims to be a deterrent to illegal discharges of oil at sea and assist with the collection of evidence that is needed to prosecute marine polluters.
ISTOP is a satellite surveillance program for the detection of possible discharges of oil due to marine transportation and offshore oil production. It is a collaborative initiative that uses satellite image information to direct surveillance aircraft to suspected marine pollution incidents to ascertain if there is an oil spill. It enables the routine monitoring of waters under Canadian jurisdiction through the collaboration and coordination of surveillance resources from multiple federal departments and agencies and private industry. The ISTOP team includes the Canadian Space Agency, Transport Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Coast Guard and Environment Canada.
Since November 1st 2006, Environment Canada has taken a significant step forward in the battle against marine pollution by assuming operational responsibility of ISTOP. Increasingly, surveillance flights are being timed to coincide with Radarsat passes so that surface anomalies can be checked to ascertain if there is an oil spill. Environment Canada’s Canadian Ice Service uses their expertise with satellite Earth Observation data to help vector the aircraft for confirmation, tracking and collection of evidence for prosecution. An image analyst can look at an image covering 90 000 sq. kilometres of ocean and in minutes determine if a suspected oil slick is present. The same area would take several hours to survey using an aircraft. However, an observer on the aircraft is essential to confirm the anomaly is indeed oil and to positively identify the polluter, if one is present. The combination of the two is very effective.