User:Matthew-Christian Garcia/Machias Seal Island

Canadian interest
The United Kingdom, and later Canada, have maintained an ongoing interest in the island, largely through the continuous occupation of the lighthouse. Until the 1970s–1980s, lighthouse keepers from the Canadian Coast Guard would live on the island with their families, receiving supplies by sea from Grand Manan or Saint John. Since 1944, the island has been protected under its designation as the Machias Seal Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary (a wildlife and seabird sanctuary), managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service. No private citizen in Canada has made an ownership claim to Machias Seal Island, and Canada considers the property to be wholly owned by the federal government. The island has long been included in federal and provincial electoral districts, and policing has been enforced on the island by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and on waters surrounding the island by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the 20th century, some Canadian residents placed mining claims on the island as an exercise of sovereignty, despite the fact that it is considered a protected area.

United States interest
In 1918, with Canadian agreement, a small detachment of U.S. Marines was placed on the island following the U.S. entry into the First World War, as a means to assist in protecting the territory and its key lighthouse guarding the entrance to the Bay of Fundy from German U-boat attack. These forces were withdrawn after several months, and no U.S. presence has been re-established since.

Current Status
Since the 1984 ICJ ruling on the Gulf of Maine decided the fate of offshore boundaries, Machias Seal Island and neighboring North Rock, an exposed rock outcropping about 4 km north-northeast at 44.5375°N, -67.08611°W, as well as the surrounding waters, have become a political football for local politicians in fishing communities of coastal Charlotte County, New Brunswick and Washington County, Maine. There are little to no mineral or petroleum resources in the "grey zone"; however, there is a valuable lobster fishery; fishermen from both countries are exploiting the lack of rules in the "grey zone" by overfishing various species.

In 1995, the Canadian Coast Guard dramatically reduced the number of manned lighthouses on the Atlantic coast as a cost-saving measure. Today, all lighthouses in Eastern Canada except for the station on Machias Seal Island are unmanned. The Machias Seal Island light had been automated several years prior to the announcement, but Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is now covering the Canadian Coast Guard's costs to maintain lightkeepers on Machias Seal Island "for sovereignty purposes".

Using the residence on the island, two lightkeepers are permanently staffed there. Flown by helicopter from the coast guard base in Saint John, they are rotated every four weeks. These Coast Guard employees also assist the Canadian Wildlife Service in maintaining the Migratory Bird Sanctuary, as well as helping any wildlife researchers who may stay on the island for a period of time.

Canadian Interest
The United Kingdom, and later Canada, have maintained an ongoing interest in the island, largely through the continuous occupation of the lighthouse. Until the 1970s–1980s, lighthouse keepers from the Canadian Coast Guard would live on the island with their families, receiving supplies by sea from Grand Manan or Saint John. Since 1944, the island has been protected under its designation as the Machias Seal Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary (a wildlife and seabird sanctuary), managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service. No private citizen in Canada has made an ownership claim to Machias Seal Island, and Canada considers the property to be wholly owned by the federal government. The island has long been included in federal and provincial electoral districts, and policing has been enforced on the island by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and on waters surrounding the island by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the 20th century, some Canadian residents placed mining claims on the island as an exercise of sovereignty, despite the fact that it is considered a protected area.

Interest has also risen due to the economical benefits of fishing around the island due to its increasing lobster industry. From 2002 to 2016 the lobster catch has surged nearly 1,500 percent.

United States Interest
The Treaty of Paris (1783) is the main reason why interest is ongoing and why the United States stake their claim. The treaty states the Machias Seal Island falls in line as with the boundaries of the United States. In 1918, with Canadian agreement, a small detachment of U.S. Marines was placed on the island following the U.S. entry into the First World War, as a means to assist in protecting the territory and its key lighthouse guarding the entrance to the Bay of Fundy from German U-boat attack. These forces were withdrawn after several months, and no U.S. presence has been re-established since.

The United States also has interest due to the lobster industry, which is mainly around the island. In 2017 the lobster industry brought in $600 million in overall revenue. The state of Maine is heavily depend on the waters around the island as that is the main lobster grounds.

Grey Zone
One main source of conflict between Canadian interest and American interest is a portion called the "grey zone". The grey zone sits 11.2 miles off the coast of northern Maine and 11.4 miles off the coast of New Brunswick and occupies an 277 square mile area of disputed territory. Machias Seal Island sits in the middle of the grey zone and whichever country has the rights to Machias Seal Island also has the undisputed rights to the grey zone. Since Both the the U.S. and Canada lay claim to the grey zone, conflict has risen.

Since the 1984 ICJ ruling on the Gulf of Maine decided the fate of offshore boundaries, Machias Seal Island and neighboring North Rock, an exposed rock outcropping about 4 km north-northeast at 44.5375°N, -67.08611°W, as well as the surrounding waters, have become a political football for local politicians in fishing communities of coastal Charlotte County, New Brunswick and Washington County, Maine. There are little to no mineral or petroleum resources in the "grey zone"; however, there is a valuable lobster fishery; fishermen from both countries are exploiting the lack of rules in the "grey zone" by overfishing various species.

As Climate change has affected the overall environment over the past decades, lobsters have migrated north which is the cause of the conflict in the grey zone. In 2016, Maine landed a record of 132 million pounds of lobster which is doubled in what was recorded in 2000. The two factors to cause conflict are social-environmental change and the political handling of the situation. As competing fishermen from Canada and the United States continue to fish the grey zone, conflict emerges. The United States and Canada still both claim the area as there's which amplifies the conflict as the governing agencies have yet to settle who owns the grey zone. In 2002, Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans expanded their timeframe to match the United States lobster season based off the claim that it was detrimental to the Canadian lobster fishery. Individual conflict has occurred as both sides claim to have their lines cut, gear stolen, traps being put on top of each other, as well as death threats.

Current Status
In 1995, the Canadian Coast Guard dramatically reduced the number of manned lighthouses on the Atlantic coast as a cost-saving measure. Today, all lighthouses in Eastern Canada except for the station on Machias Seal Island are unmanned. The Machias Seal Island light had been automated several years prior to the announcement, but Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is now covering the Canadian Coast Guard's costs to maintain lightkeepers on Machias Seal Island "for sovereignty purposes".

Using the residence on the island, two lightkeepers are permanently staffed there. Flown by helicopter from the coast guard base in Saint John, they are rotated every four weeks. These Coast Guard employees also assist the Canadian Wildlife Service in maintaining the Migratory Bird Sanctuary, as well as helping any wildlife researchers who may stay on the island for a period of time.