US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1142

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAN, OES/OA AND OES/OMC 
NOAA FOR NATIONAL OCEANS SERVICE:KITSOS 
NOAA ALSO FOR NMFS AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS:WARE-HARRIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EFIS, PGOV, CA, Ocean Action Plan 
SUBJECT: VISIT TO OTTAWA OF CHAIRMAN OF U.S. COMMISSION ON 
OCEAN POLICY 
 
REF: OTTAWA 983 
 
1.  This is an action message.  Please see paragraph 8. 
 
2.  Summary:  Admiral James D. Watkins (ret.), former 
Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, visited 
Ottawa April 12 to brief senior Canadian officials on the 
Commission's final report.  GOC officials reviewed the status 
of Canada's Ocean Action Plan (OAP), and expressed their 
desire to hold government-to-government talks on oceans 
policy in the near future.  Comparison of the Commission's 
report and Canada's OAP suggest that there are a number of 
important areas for potential collaboration, including 
science and technology, the Arctic, and coordinated ecosystem 
management.  Admiral Watkins also discussed the Oceans 
Commission report with a reporter from the Globe and Mail 
newspaper, and met with key members of Parliament's Standing 
Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.  End summary. 
 
3.  Discussions on ocean policy began with a meeting at the 
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), attended by 
representatives of nine Canadian agencies, including the 
Deputy Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans, Indian and Northern 
Affairs, and National Defense, as well as the commander of 
the Canadian Navy.  Admiral Watkins, accompanied by former 
Commission Executive Director Dr. Thomas Kitsos and staff 
members of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and 
Education, briefed the GOC officials on the Commission's 
report, emphasizing the Commission's finding on the need for 
a more formalized structure to enhance interagency 
cooperation within the USG.  Admiral Watkins also highlighted 
four potential areas for enhanced U.S.-Canada collaboration: 
science and technology, the Arctic, the Great Lakes, and 
international capacity building. 
 
4.  DFO Deputy Minister Larry Murray followed with a 
presentation on Canada's Ocean Action Plan, noting that it 
corresponds in key areas with the U.S. Commission report. 
Murray emphasized that the Ocean Action Plan urges an 
ecosystem-based approach to oceans management, and 
highlighted existing Canada-U.S. collaboration both 
bilaterally on the Gulf of Maine Council, and multilaterally 
in bodies such as the Global Oceans Forum, the 
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Arctic 
Marine Strategic Plan.  Murray also suggested that the United 
States and Canada could work together to place integrated 
oceans management issues on the agendas of international 
organizations and conferences such as the Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization, the G-8, and the Davos Forum. 
 
5.  According to GOC officials, Canada's Ocean Action Plan 
rests on four interconnected pillars that will serve to 
integrate GOC policy: International Leadership, Integrated 
Oceans Management, Health of the Oceans, and Science and 
Technology.  Murray noted that the GOC has already undertaken 
to buttress the first pillar, International Leadership, with 
the May 1-5 High Seas Fisheries Conference in St. John's, 
Newfoundland.  Regarding Integrated Oceans Management, Canada 
has created five "Large Ocean Management Areas" on all three 
of its coasts (including the Arctic) to analyze the health of 
the marine ecosystems and establish more effective ecosystem 
management.  The third pillar, Health of the Oceans, includes 
designation of Marine Protected Areas and development of 
ballast water and marine pollution regulations.  The final 
pillar, Science and Technology, encompasses GOC-sponsored 
research on seabed mapping, ecosystem overviews in support of 
integrated management, and technology development and 
demonstration. 
 
6.  DFO Minister Geoff Regan hosted a luncheon for Admiral 
Watkins, also attended by Member of Parliament Shawn Murphy, 
who serves as Parliamentary Secretary for DFO.  Admiral 
Watkins reviewed the main points of the Commission Report for 
Regan, who appeared well briefed and noted the important 
similarities in the U.S. and Canadian approaches to oceans 
management.  Regan agreed on the importance of 
government-to-government consultations, and expressed 
appreciation that oceans management was specifically included 
in the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) agenda 
agreed to at the March 23 summit among President Bush, Prime 
Minister Martin, and President Fox.  Several GOC officials 
expressed a preference that oceans policy talks be conducted 
on a bilateral basis, explaining that because Canada and 
Mexico do not share any marine ecosystems, they would prefer 
to engage Mexico on oceans policy in multilateral fora. 
 
7.  Admiral Watkins had a brief interview with the science 
reporter from the Globe and Mail newspaper, and then met with 
key members of Parliament's Standing Committee on Fisheries 
and Oceans, including Chairman Tom Wappel, Conservative Party 
Fisheries Critic Loyola Hearne, New Democratic Fisheries 
Critic Peter Stoffer, and Parliamentary Secretary Shawn 
Murphy.  The members showed considerable interest in the 
Commission's report, and required an extension of the time 
originally set for the meeting. 
 
8.  Comment and action request:  GOC officials expressed 
great appreciation for the opportunity to be briefed on the 
Oceans Commission report, and were particularly pleased that 
the ecosystem-based management approach advocated in the 
report is clearly compatible with Canada's Ocean Action Plan. 
 The GOC is ready to move to government-to-government 
meetings on oceans policy, either in Ottawa or Washington, 
and would like to do so in the near future, in part to build 
upon the attention oceans policy received in the SPP. 
Embassy would appreciate input from Washington agencies on 
how best to move ahead with this process. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
DICKSON