The operation of a commercial shipping route through the Northwest Passage - a 1450 kilometre marine corridor linking Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea - has been a recurring dream of traders since the late fifteenth century. It is now fast becoming a practical possibility with the recent discoveries of hydrocarbon and other mineral resources. A consideration of the problems this will raise is urgently necessary. The Canadian Northern Waters Project, at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, has therefore initiated a four-year programme to investigate the feasibility of expanded arctic shipping and ocean development. This title is the first result of the project. The work provides, in chapters by different authors, an in-depth review of the outstanding environmental, technological, political, economic, social and legal issues associated with arctic resource use, development and management.