Evidence of meeting #25 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was certification.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Robert Chisholm NDP Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
—but you probably know where it's going.
Does the fact that those conditions and therefore whether or not that certification will be granted to that particular industry...? Is there pressure brought to bear on the government to ensure that the additional work is done to meet that condition?
4:25 p.m.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Sure there is. It's absolutely the case.
I'm going to quickly do a parenthesis: 18 of the 24 certified fisheries are in Atlantic Canada. Absolutely, that is a challenge. The challenge for us is.... What's good about it is that as long as it's all based on the FAO guidelines, which we helped develop and we absolutely believe in, and our sustainable fisheries framework, it's generally going to go in the right direction. That has generally been the case with most conditions.
The challenge is that we sit together every year and say what are our five priority fisheries in terms of establishing a bycatch policy application, but that doesn't happen to be the fishery that went into certification. Even though that is the priority fishery for various reasons, we sometimes have to move our priorities. That's where I would say the challenge is in terms of.... It's not throwing us way off our game, but it does actually take us in directions that might not be the priorities given the resources we have.
That said, there are not many things that you would look at.... There are a couple of cases where we would say, “I don't think they got this right.” That's in very, very few cases, and we've had discussions with the certifiers on that. For the most part, you look at it and you say yes, that would be a good thing to have. It's a question of how and when, etc.
4:25 p.m.
Director General, External Relations, Strategic Policy, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I could add a personal experience involved in some of the assessments with the department. I think that in the earlier days we were scrambling, but today, with greater awareness, both in the industry and in the department—
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rodney Weston
Excuse me, Ms. Bouffard. I have to interrupt here.
The bells are ringing. As per the Standing Orders, we have to recess, but actually, this committee will adjourn at this time.
Thank you.