In EffetsCumulatifsNavigation/ceanav: Research compendium for project on the assessment cumulative effects of marine vessel activities in the St. Lawrence

Shipwrecks {#naufrage}

We thank Sohaib Gabsis at Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the discussions and support.

meta <- read_yaml("../data/data-metadata/int_st_naufrage.yml")
show_source(meta$rawData, lang = "en")

Environmental stress related to shipwrecks was characterized using a Canadian Coast Guard database on the distribution of vessels of concern [@gcc2021]. Most of the vessel data still need to be validated by the Canadian Coast Guard and the accuracy of the coordinates cannot be guaranteed; however, this database is the best available source of information and as such is used for the cumulative effects assessment. It will be possible to update the assessment once the data is validated by the Canadian Coast Guard. This database identifies r meta$dataDescription$observations$total shipwrecks within the study area. The intensity of this environmental stressor was characterized using Gaussian smoothing -- i.e. an interpolation method based on a normal distribution -- of 3 $km$ in order to identify areas potentially affected by shipwrecks and to account for the uncertainty of the shipwreck coordinates recorded by the Canadian Coast Guard.

It is important to note that shipwrecks may be protected when they are considered archeological sites; in this context, shipwrecks posing no risk to the environment should instead be considered archeological areas of interest within areas of cultural, heritage and archeological interest valued components. A characterization of the archeological areas of interest is available through the Inventory of Archeological Sites in Quebec (Inventaire des sites archéologiques du Québec) of the Ministry of Culture and Communications (Ministère de la Culture et des Communications). However, we were not able to access this inventory during our assessment.

knitr::include_graphics("./figures/figures-integrated/naufrage-naufrage.png")

EffetsCumulatifsNavigation/ceanav documentation built on April 17, 2023, 1:02 p.m.