Question Period Note: Installation of Amitié Submarine Cable System (Offshore Nova Scotia)

Installation of Amitié Submarine Cable System (Offshore Nova Scotia)

Under the Fisheries Act and Species at Risk Act, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for reviewing projects in or near water to assess impacts on fish and fish habitat.

In the summer of 2020, my department received a project description from Amitié Submarine Networks to install a subsea communications cable between Europe and the United States, going through Canadian territory.

Discussions with my department have resulted in the proponent revising their cable installation plans in order to protect sensitive deep water corals and sponges found along the route, within Canadian jurisdiction.

Mitigating Interactions with Fishing Industry
My department is continuing to work with the proponent to provide information on fishing activities and to encourage an effective industry-to-industry discussion on the project.

Marine Conservation
The cable will be installed through the Fundian Channel-Browns Bank Area of Interest, which is being considered for a marine protected area. As the Fundian Channel-Browns Bank is not currently a marine protected area, there are no regulations or restrictions in place.

My department will continue to assess this project as part of the ecological risk assessment, and if a marine protected area is established in the future, ongoing management of the cable will be addressed in the Marine Protected Area regulations.

Marine Spatial Planning

This project highlights the need to manage our busy ocean spaces in a way that accommodates various uses, while protecting our ecosystems.

Our government is pursuing marine spatial planning as a tool to support coordinating the use and management of marine spaces, providing clarity to users, regulators, and project proponents.

• Amitié Submarine Networks (a consortium comprising Facebook, Microsoft, Aqua Comms, and Vodafone) is planning to install a fiber optic cable from Europe to the United States in February/March 2022.
• The cable will be installed through Canada’s Exclusive Economic Zone, including the Gulf of Maine, Georges Basin, the Northeast Channel, and the deep water portions off the Scotian Shelf.
• The Department received the original project description in July 2020. The proponent proposed cable trenching and burial through the Fundian Channel Browns Bank Area of Interest and sensitive deep water coral and sponge habitat areas.
• Through discussion with the Department, the proponent revised the cable installation methodology to lay the fiber optic cable (approximately 1.5” in diameter) on the ocean floor, instead of trenching and burial, in depths below 300 meters to minimize impacts on corals and sponges.
• As a result of these changes, the Department determined that the residual impacts to fish and fish habitat and aquatic species at risk from the installation of the subsea cable are not likely to impair the habitat’s capacity to support one or more life processes of fish or result in prohibited effects to aquatic species at risk. It was therefore determined that a Fisheries Act authorization was not required for the revised project.
• In addition to the Fisheries Act project review process, the Department provided the proponent with contact information for fishing industry stakeholders and First Nations, as well as information on fishing activities and sensitive habitats in the area.
• On several occasions, the Department advised the proponent to engage the fishing industry and First Nations on the project. The proponent sent the project description to First Nations and the fishing industry in June and August 2021, respectively.
• The proponent is currently in the process of notifying industry about the route and timing of work.
• The fishing industry has raised a number of concerns about the installation of this cable, including: lack of engagement by the proponent and the Department in the project; liability risks if the cable is damaged by fishing gear once installed; the cumulative impacts associated with the cable; and, the absence of a marine planning regime in Canada to effectively plan for and manage the competing interests of multiple ocean users.

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