Machias Seal Island is an island in disputed water between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy, about southeast from Cutler, Maine, and southwest of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. Canada has had a permanent settlement on the island since 1832, when the lighthouse was first constructed. However, the United States also claims sovereignty of the island, despite never having physical presence on it. The Canadian Coast Guard continues to staff the lighthouse on the island.
Geography The relationship of Machias Seal Island to the Grand Manan archipelago is unclear, but it may be a continuation of the exposed shoals, rocks, and islets strewn southwest of the Grand Manan Islands. The deeper Grand Manan Channel is situated to the north and west of the island, separating it from the coast of Washington County, Maine.
The climate and weather of Machias Seal Island is typical for the region. It is fog-bound for many days of the year, similar to the weather found at the nearby coasts of Maine and Grand Manan. The weather often causes rough waters, making any approach to the island hazardous.
Machias Seal Island is named because it is an exposed and barren island, devoid of any trees, and is attractive for seals using it as a prominence. Its geography and remote location also makes it valuable as a sanctuary for seabirds such as Atlantic puffins, razorbills, common murres, common terns, and Arctic terns, Leach's storm petrels, and common eiders.
It is a neighbour to North Rock, away.
History Native Wabanaki tribes fished the surrounding water and traveled to all the lands of Maine using seaworthy birchbark canoes prior to the arrival of Western powers.
Britain established possession of Machias Seal Island and, under pressure from shipping interests at Saint John, constructed a lighthouse in 1832 at the cost of £746. The initial contract had hoped to erect two lights, on the ENE and NNW sides of the island.
The brig Charlotte was laden with cargo and last seen on April 30, 1829 just above Western Ledge. The following morning, the schooner Liberty found its longboat and floating wreckage six kilometres north of Machias Seal Island, while Dyer Wilcos found a dog from the ship and wreckage at Hay Point on the southern tip of Grand Manan. No other hint as to the Charlotte's final resting place was ever determined.
As of 1842, Thomas Wyer was one of three commissioners of the lighthouses on Machias Seal Island, Campobello and at Saint Andrews. British-Canadian Lighthouse keepers James Connolly and his sons were the sole residents of the island for 37 years, before retiring to Saint Andrews.Lorimer, John G. s:History of Islands & Islets in the Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick
From 1855 to 1875, John C. Conley was lightkeeper of Machias Seal Island, inheriting the position after assisting his father for ten years. In 1875 the fog whistle was replaced with a steam engine model, which required an engineer to operate so Conley was removed - although two years later he was appointed keeper of the Sand Reef, and later Drews Head, light stations.
On January 9, 1869, a Sackville brigantine loaded with lumber and hay struck Gull Rock, an islet a quarter-mile from Machias Seal Island. The 9-man crew was saved by the Connollys and billeted at the lighthouse for four days before being taken back to the mainland. Six similar shipwrecks occurred during their tenure.
On April 22, 1896, the wife of Charles F. Seeley gave birth to a daughter on the islandBirths, St. John Daily Sun, April 28, 1896 • Saint John and another on January 5 1899.Births, St. John Daily Sun, January 17, 1899 • Saint John
In 1916, the lighthouse was completely rebuilt from concrete, with a new lighting apparatus and fog alarm, at a cost of $33,000.The Beacon : Vol. XXVIII, No. 35 (February 24, 1917)
Dispute The dispute begins in August 1971, when the U.S. State Department officially protests Canada’s recent extension of high seas jurisdiction around Machias Seal Island. The U.S. government never complained Canada's administration of the island before that date.
The U.S. base their claim of the island from an acquisition by the early treaties with Great Britain. Canada bases his ownership primarily from continuous occupation, but also from a different interpretation of the treaties.
Treaty of Paris (1783) The Treaty of Paris ended the conflict surrounding the American Revolutionary War. Article 2 of that treaty set the boundaries:
The United States claims the island on the basis of its proximity to the American coast. Canada claims the island on the basis that territories already considered part of Nova Scotia ought to be continued as part of New Brunswick today. The "northwest angle" of Nova Scotia refers to what is today New Brunswick, and the Canada–U.S. border still follows today the St. Croix River and a line due north from its source. At the time of the treaty's writing, Grand Manan was considered to be farther North-Northeast from New England than it actually is. A line from the mouth of the St. Croix River to Brier Island and other parts of Nova Scotia across the Bay of Fundy would cross Grand Manan Island rather than contain the whole and its nearby islands. Once the St. Croix River was unambiguously identified following a commission provided by Jay's Treaty of 1794, it became clear that Machias Seal Island, as well as Grand Manan Island, was within 20 leagues () of the shores of the United States and south of the line drawn due east from the mouth of the St. Croix River, but it remained unclear whether the islands were within the defined limits of Nova Scotia and its 1621 founding. That charter specifies Islands within six leagues of the boundary are part of Nova Scotia. These limits are written in the original text of the land grant dated 1621 to Sir William Alexander (founder of Nova Scotia) in which all "... islands, or seas lying near to, or within six leagues of any part ... of the said coasts" are deemed part of Nova Scotia. Machias Seal Island as well as numerous islands in Maine are located within six leagues from the original boundary line, although Britain would later cease its claims on other islands in eastern Maine, notably, Moose Island.
The ambiguities resulted in both countries claiming several islands in Passamaquoddy Bay, including Grand Manan.
Treaty of Ghent (1783) During the War of 1812, the United Kingdom occupied coastal Maine extending from the border with New Brunswick (created from Nova Scotia in 1784) west to the Penobscot River valley. During this time, tolls were charged upon residents at various occupied harbors in the area.
The UK withdrew their forces upon signing the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, with the stipulation in Article Four that the boundary should be better delineated in the area of the Bay of Fundy. The Article Four set up a joint commission at St Andrews, New Brunswick, to reach a compromise. And if no compromise could be found, a third country would be involved to arbitrate a final decision.
In 1817, the joint commission reached a final decision without the need of arbitration. The two Commissioners declared that Moose, Dudley, and Frederick Islands belong to the United States, while Grand Manan and all other islands of the Passamaquoddy Bay belong to the British Empire.
Machias Seal Island is not directly named, although Grand Manan and nearby islands are settled to be part of British-Canada, as are the coastal islands of Maine to be part of the US. In 1832, fifteen years after the decision, the British built a lighthouse on Machias Seal Island.
Later Boundary Treaties (1908, 1910, 1925) Later boundary treaties and negotiations extended the seaward boundary in the Grand Manan Channel in 1908–1910 to its present terminus, roughly equidistant between Grand Manan Island and the coast of Maine, and several nautical miles northeast of Machias Seal Island.
The island has also been claimed by the descendants of "Tall Barney Beal", particularly Barna Norton, who ran boat tours to the island.
Canadian interest
The United Kingdom, and later Canada, have maintained an ongoing interest in the island, largely through the continuous occupation of the lighthouse. Until the 1970s–1980s, lighthouse keepers from the Canadian Coast Guard would live on the island with their families.
Since 1944, the island has been protected under its designation as the Machias Seal Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary (a wildlife and seabird sanctuary), managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service.
The island has long been included in federal and provincial electoral districts, and policing has been enforced on the island by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and on waters surrounding the island by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the 20th century, some Canadian residents placed mining claims on the island as an exercise of sovereignty, despite the fact that it is considered a protected area.
The federal government acknowledges it does not enforce border-law on Machias Seal Island, in regards to American visitors.
United States interest In 1918, with Canadian agreement, a small detachment of U.S. Marines was placed on the island following the U.S. entry into the First World War, as a means to assist in protecting the territory and its key lighthouse guarding the entrance to the Bay of Fundy from German U-boat attack. These forces were withdrawn after several months, and no U.S. presence has been re-established since.
Gulf of Maine boundary Sovereignty of Machias Seal Island (and North Rock) would likely not still be in question today if it were not for the decision by Canada and the United States to avoid settling this issue in their 1979 joint application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in the Netherlands to have the maritime boundary delineated in the Gulf of Maine for fishing and mineral exploration purposes on Georges Bank.
Both nations avoided having ICJ rule on the sovereignty of Machias Seal Island and North Rock by agreeing to have a common starting point for the offshore boundary southwest of the island at , as reflected in the final ruling in the case. The gap in the agreed maritime boundary extends for several nautical miles from this point. Machias Seal Island and North Rock lie in an area of overlapping claims, known by local fishers as the "grey zone".
Conflict in grey zone
The "grey zone" is a gap between Canada and the United States that was designated in 1977. Without clear ownership of the area, both countries assert fishing efforts that have strained the lobster population and its respective economies.Lobster War: The Fight Over The World’s Richest Fishing Grounds (June 5, 2020). [Video]. YouTube. Rules and rights over the "grey zone" are governed by political and social factors, such as increased lobster fishing efforts and different management styles, which becomes a source of conflict when more than one entity seeks to control the space.Alexander, K. A. (2021). Conflicts Over Marine and Coastal Common Resources. Taylor & Francis. These political and social factors accentuate resource competition and eventually lead to conflict. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) governs the Canadian lobster fisheries, but the United States' fisheries are governed both by the federal and the state governments. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission governs the federal zone between and off of Maine, and the state government controls the area within offshore.