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 approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-northeast at 44°32′15″N 67°05′10″W / 44.5375°N 67.08611°W / 44.5375; -67.08611, 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. The local environment is likely to be the casualty of the sovereignty dispute, since 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 flown by helicopter from the coast guard base in Saint John every 28 days to replace the two existing keepers. 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.
Read more about this topic: Machias Seal Island
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