Fisheries and Oceans Canada
www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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Why It Matters
The critical importance of hydrography is summed up in the motto of CHS: “Nautical charts protect lives, property and the marine environment.”
As Canada’s hydrographic authority, CHS surveys the country’s navigable inland and marine waters – to the edge of the continental shelf and beyond. Our charts are the ‘road maps’ that guide mariners safely from port to port. They provide an incredible wealth of detail: depths, buoys, lighthouses, hazards and more.
Keeping pace with change
A further challenge for CHS is to keep up with changes to Canada’s waterscape. High-traffic areas such as the Great Lakes shipping lanes and popular recreational areas like Trent-Severn Waterway are high priorities for resurveying.
In the western Arctic, artificial islands no longer used for oil and gas development are changing shape due to ice scouring and currents – presenting a navigational hazard and earning a place on the priority list as well.
CHS continues to use the latest technologies such as multibeam sounders and the satellite-based Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to make the work done today more comprehensive and accurate than ever before.
CHS now offers Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs), a remarkable contribution to safer navigation. When combined with GPS, radar, ship course, speed and draft in an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), the Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) becomes part of a powerful system that allows mariners to know their ship’s position instantly and accurately and to be warned of dangerous situations.
CHS has also switched to a print-on-demand technology for our paper charts. We no longer print in bulk and store charts in warehouses. Instead, mariners now receive the latest chart with the latest updates, with no more hand-drawn corrections or glued-on patches – all six to eight weeks faster.
CHS is committed to continued innovation as we provide our clients with high-quality charts and publications to help them navigate safely. Our role is ever more vital in light of increasing commercial shipping, fishing activity, recreational boating, and the development of ocean resources."People sometimes assume we know all there is to know about our waterways. I like to remind them that we have more accurate maps of the moon than we do of our own ocean floors.
But that’s changing. And that’s what makes this work so exciting. You can spend 28 days on a ship with your eyes on a computer monitor and one day – there it is, something new. A good example is when we discover uncharted ship wrecks or find new areas of glass sponge reef off the BC coast.
It’s amazing what today’s technology enables. An electronic navigational chart on a ship’s bridge, for instance, can be integrated with other systems and indicate approaching dangers and hazards to the vessel. All of a sudden, we have so much knowledge at our disposal, and all of it can help improve navigational safety.”
Brian Port
Multidisciplinary Hydrographer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
