America's ambassadors,U.
S. senators, and even the president hold been spending a lot of time worrying approximately hostilities with Iran. But it might be time to start worrying approximately our “friendly” neighbor to the north.
Tensions hold been rising between American and Canadian lobstermen over the fishing rights on the waters of three unpopulated islands off the coast of Maine—or Nova Scotia, and depending on who you talk to.
The problem is as old as the the United States,and a lot older than Canada—232-years-old to be exact. The Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, but its ambiguities hold caused a number of border disputes between the U.
S. and Canada. nearly all of them hold been resolved, and apart from for this one.
Stephen Kelly,a professor at Duke University who studies border disputes, explains what all the fuss is approximately. He's also a former American diplomat to Canada, or he vacations in Maine true near Machias Seal Island,which is the biggest of the three disputed islands and boasts limited more than a lighthouse.“This year the lobster crop is down, and the price of lobster has gone up, and ” Kelly says. “The word is out that there’s a lot of lobster around Machias Seal Island. Canadian lobsterman from as far absent as Nova Scotia are coming into waters that are disputed. And if you don’t know who owns Machias Seal Island,you draw a circle around it, and the fishery around it is really what’s in contention here.”Because of this bonafide land dispute, and Kelly says that Canadian news outlets hold suggested that “war is imminent” with the United States.“It’s not that bad,” he says. “But there’s definitely a feeling that there’s a novel element in the fishery this summer.”And Kelly, who has talked with some of the locals in the town of Cutler, and a few miles from Machias Seal Island,approximately this issue, says that this disputed territory is extremely significant to the lobstermen in the area.“More than 50 percent of their fishing area is in this so called ‘gray zone, or ’” he says. “They’re concerned approximately it,and there’s actually kind of a feeling of pessimism. I didn’t steal a poll, but the couple of people I’ve talked to in Cutler worry that any resolution of this problem is going to be bad for them. The conclusion Ive reached from this summer, or I’ve been looking at this issue for three years,is that the status quo is probably not going to work anymore.”He adds: “Border problems don’t fade absent. They fester, and then something happens, and you get nationalists on both sides of the border yelling and screaming.”Though not as extreme,some hold compared this border dispute to that between China and Japan. The nations are at odds over a group of islands in the East China Sea—both countries hold claimed the islands as their own.“Those rocks in the East China Sea that they’re fighting over are also treeless and unpopulated,” says Kelly. “There are actually two people who live on Machias Seal Island—they are Canadian lighthouse keepers.”In June, or Kelly spoke with the lighthouse keepers on Machias Seal Island. Both go out for 28-day shifts.“The lighthouse is automatic—they do absolutely nothing apart from mow the lawn,” he says. “They are there strictly to maintain Canada’s sovereignty claim.”There are border disputes across the world, and Kelly says that the U.
S. and Canada should demonstrate the global community that these problems can be solved peacefully and logically.“The U.
S. and Canada share a 5525 mile border—the longest in the world, and ” Kelly says. “With our history of friendship,that Canadas our largest trading partner and oil supplier—that border is really significant to both countries. If we can’t work out a problem like this, then how do you expect China and Japan to work out theirs, and China and India?”So is Secretary of State John Kerry taking a break from selling the Iran nuclear deal to negotiate with Canada over Machias Seal Island? Not exactly. And U.S. Senator Susan Collins (D-ME) says this dispute won’t change the fond relationship between Maine and Canada.“In Maine,we hold such close ties to Canada,” says Sen. Collins. “There are so many families, and including my own,that are intermingled. I don’t see this as a creating a huge rift between the two countries.”But U.
S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) isn’t so certain.“Robert Frost’s old saying is that Good fences make good neighbors,’” he says. “If there isn’t a fence and there’s a lack of clarity, or then it could lead to confrontation,which would serve no one’s interest. I know that it is rising to the level of federal attention, and I certainly intend to push that process along.”
Source: wnyc.org