Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) Feasibility Study

Transport Canada is assessing the feasibility of making changes to the TSS to improve conditions for the Southern Resident killer whales

Transport Canada

Southern Resident Killer Whales

Project Overview 

The Southern Resident killer whale population has been determined to be facing an imminent threat to both survival and recovery under the Species at Risk Act. Efforts have been made by a variety of non-governmental groups and government agencies to develop a recovery strategy to increase the population numbers of the whales.

There are three key threats to the Southern Resident killer whale:

Availability of Prey - Acoustic and physical disturbance (underwater noise interferes with hunting and communication) - Environmental contaminants

How We're Helping

This project focuses on reducing acoustic and physical disturbance by examining the feasibility of making changes to the Traffic Separation Scheme within the critical habitat of the Southern Resident killer whale. 

In order to better understand and address underwater noise affecting the Southern Resident killer whales, Transport Canada is working with partners and other stakeholders to develop measures to reduce noise impacts from vessels travelling through SRKW habitat. To assist with this, Transport Canada is evaluating potential amendments to the existing traffic separation scheme (TSS) within SRKW habitat (the Project).

The Project will identify potential options to amend the TSS. The Project will also examine the potential consequences of these options prior to making a recommendation on an option(s). Therefore, the Project will determine the feasibility of the identified options for amendment to the TSS, if any. To properly evaluate potential amendment options, input from local Indigenous communities, industry groups, public and other stakeholders is required.

What is a TSS?

Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS) are lanes on the water which aim to reduce collision risk in congested and/or converging areas by separating marine vessel traffic moving in opposite, or nearly opposite, directions.

Canadian & American Traffic Separation Scheme __________________________________________________________________________________Marine Vessel Density

TSS’ are formally approved and designated through the International Maritime Organization. 

The TSS for this project was a joint submission by both the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America since parts of it fall on either side of the international border. 

What Scenarios are we looking to examine for potential changes and how did we select them?

The Scenarios of the TSS we are looking to examine as potential areas for further study were selected using the following information and data:

The layout of the current TSS

Southern Resident killer whale Density Map

Southern Resident killer whale Critical Habitat Area

Data collected from the Technical Workshop:

Sothern Resident killer whale Technical Workshop - ArcGIS Web Application

Data collected from the engagement sessions and online interactive mapping activities:

Sothern Resident killer whale Engagement Session - ArcGIS Web Application

● Coastal Bathymetry with 20 metres contours as limiting depth;

● Nautical Charts;

● Our team’s technical knowledge and understanding of navigational practices typically followed by commercial vessels;

● Our team’s technical knowledge and understanding of the COLREGS (Rules and regulations governing vessel’s collision prevention);

● Information related to Pilotage regulations including geographic area where pilotage is mandatory for commercial vessels;

● Feedback TC has gathered through bilateral talks with Indigenous Communities;

● Knowledge and information gathered through review of reference materials from the start of the project;

● Input from other governmental departments, such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans; 

● Preliminary results for the study area using the traffic and incident modelling software MARIN; and

● An assessment of vessel noise by JASCO.

This information and data has helped us narrow down our options for evaluation to the top 5 Scenarios which would potentially have the biggest positive impact on the Southern Resident killer whale population. 

01 / 05

Scenario 1

Scenario 1, pictured on the right, was selected due to preliminary noise modeling outputs which indicate that the potential reductions in underwater noise could be achieved without significantly impacting the risks to marine safety. 

Scenario 1 examines 8 potential changes to the TSS across all 4 zones (Switftsure Bank, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait and Strait of Georgia), and includes the following changes: 

1. At Swiftsure bank: narrowing of the outbound lane and westward expansion of the northern outbound and inbound lanes to the Strait of Juan de Fuca; 

2. Removing the northerly TSS exit North of buoy JA; 

3. In the Strait of Juan de Fuca the proposed changes include implementing a Canadian two way inshore route;  

4. Moving the outbound traffic lane south by narrowing the separation zone; 

5. Moving the pilot station and traffic lanes south of Constance Bank; 

6. Moving the two lanes and the separation zone West of buoy VD by narrowing of the TSS in the Southwest entrance to Haro Strait;

7. Moving the Boundary Pass two-way route South and away from South Pender and Saturna Island; and 

8. Adjusting the Strait of Georgia TSS by moving the North/South oriented section by 1 Nm to West and slight movement of the Northwest/Southeast oriented section to align with the new North/South oriented section. 

Scenario 2

Scenario 2 proposed to adjust the traffic in Swiftsure Bank and Strait of Georgia as follows:  

1. Rerouting of the Inbound and outbound TSS lanes away from Swiftsure bank in Southwest/Northeast orientation with similar length of 20Nm from JF Precautionary Area;

2. Moving the two lanes and separation zone west of buoy VD and narrowing the TSS in the southern portion of Haro Strait; and 

3. Adjusting the Strait of Georgia TSS by moving the North/South oriented section by 3 Nm to West and movement of the Northwest/Southeast oriented section to align with the new North/South oriented section. 

These three proposed changes are seen as bringing the most significant changes to TSS and could potentially increase the risk to marine safety, but preliminary noise modelling suggests these changes could significantly reduce noise impacts from commercial shipping on the SRKW and therefore they should be evaluated.

Scenario 3

Scenario 3, is similar to Scenario 1 except for the following changes: 

1. Instead of moving the outbound traffic lane south by narrowing the separation zone - the outbound traffic lane is left as it currently is; 

2. The Traffic Lanes at the entrance of Haro Strait are adjusted to move them farther from San Juan Island, but the northbound lanes remain to the east of buoy VD; and 

3. Narrowing of the three sections in the Northern part of Haro Strait. Even though these changes are small, due to limited available ‘sea room’, they may present a positive impact on the Southern Resident killer whale population.  

Scenario 4

Scenario 4, is similar to Scenario 1 except for the following changes: 

1. The northerly TSS exit North of buoy JA remains;

2. The Canadian two way route in the strait of Juan de Fuca is not implemented;

3. The Traffic Lanes at the entrance of Haro Strait are not adjusted to move them farther from San Juan Island, but the Northbound lane remain to the east of buoy VD; and

4. The three sections in the Northern part of Haro Strait are narrowed by moving them away from San Juan Island.    

Scenario 5

Scenario 5 is the last option for consideration. It is similar to Option 1 except for the following changes:

1. The Pilot station and traffic lanes on each side of the Precautionary Area V are not moved South of the Constance Bank; 

2. The Boundary Pass two-way route is not moved South and away from South Pender and Saturna Island, as these two changes may be perceived as high risk from the navigation safety aspect; and

3. The three sections in the Northern part of Haro Strait are narrowed by moving them away from San Juan Island.

What's Next?

Our next steps include first, to engage with stakeholders and Indigenous communities. Engagement is critical to capturing the potential risks and impacts of these changes outside of the technical scope of marine safety and underwater noise. 

Engagement will run until August 6, 2021. 

    Following the closure of this round of engagement (round 3), the technical team will move forward with their next steps.

The next steps for the technical team will be to conduct a risk assessment of each of the five options. This risk assessment will evaluate a number of factors including:

●    Marine safety;

●    Detailed underwater noise modelling;

●    Feedback received during this round of engagement;

●    Factors of Importance developed in the first round of engagement; and

●    Impacts on the Southern Resident killer whales.

Following the risk assessment of each scenario, the results will be input into a decision support tool that will evaluate each scenario and how it aligns with the Factors of Importance that were identified throughout engagement. This is intended to provide the technical team with a single recommended scenario to put forward.

It’s important to note that these five outlined scenarios and/or any recommended individual scenarios from this feasibility study will not trigger an official process to implement changes to the TSS.

To provide your input, please visit our engagement website at  https://engage.mysocialpinpoint.ca/tctss/  or email your input to TCTSS@dillon.ca.