Gail Shea

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the objective of this exercise was to rebalance the mix of surveillance and enforcement tools at disposal in the NAFO regulatory area, or NRA, in order to better reflect improvements in compliance, improvements in electronic monitoring, and a reduction in the days fished in the NRA by foreign fleets. These changes allowed us to optimize the distribution of our compliance and enforcement assets without compromising our overall enforcement effectiveness.

With regard to (b) and (c), 23 positions have been eliminated as a result of this objective. No employees will be eliminated as a result of the reduction of three fishery officer positions in the NAFO/Offshore Surveillance Unit and 20 seagoing Canadian Coast Guard positions in Newfoundland and Labrador. Position reduction will be managed through attrition and existing vacancies.

With regard to (d), NAFO enforcement will not be affected as part of this measure. The current enforcement program will continue to focus on detection and deterrence of non-compliance by foreign vessels.

With regard to (e), the tracking numbers are 2012-006-02401.

With regard to (f), the total budget reduction of the track in 2014-15 and beyond is $4.2 million per year.

With regard to (g), no methods used to monitor fishing activity will be affected. Dedicated, armed, boarding-ready patrol ships will continue to remain available for patrolling Canada’s 200-mile limit and for carrying out inspections in the NRA.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans does not track the information on funding levels under the recreational fisheries conservation partnerships program by electoral district and calendar year.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the department has undertaken economic analyses on the impacts of reductions in total allowable catch to the offshore and inshore fleets in 2010, 2011 and 2014. No studies have been undertaken to look at the impact of LIFO on rural communities directly.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, over the past 10 years, there have been 13 home countries of foreign trawlers that have been cited for illegal fishing in the NAFO regulatory zone off Canada’s east coast. In total, there have been 2 verbal rebriefs, 8 warnings, 2 vessels ordered to leave the NAFO regulatory area, 1 vessel suspended, 696,980.48 EU in fines, 12.000 EEK in fines, 100 LVL in fines, and 285 USD in fines.

[The Environment, November 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Province of Nova Scotia is leading this operation.

Immediately following the incident, the Coast Guard acted decisively to protect the marine environment by removing the majority of the diesel and oily water from the vessel. Due to the position of the vessel at the time, some fuel was not accessible until deconstruction permitted access to confined spaces.

It was necessary to monitor the situation until the salvage was carried out. The Coast Guard stands ready to assist the Province of Nova Scotia.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that this government has spent more on small craft harbours, invested more in small craft harbours and communities across the country than any other government in history.

I will look into the member's issue on a one-on-one basis and get back to him.

[The Environment, October 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are addressing many of Justice Cohen's recommendations through the department's day-to-day work, and we will continue to consider his recommendations as part of our ongoing work.

We have just recently invested $54 million to enhance regulatory certainty for the aquaculture sector and to provide greater support to science directed at aquaculture, part of Justice Cohen's recommendations.

I am happy to report that it is not just the Fraser River. There are many rivers that are reporting record numbers of salmon this year.

[The Environment, October 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure as well to inform the House that the 2014 returns of salmon to the Fraser River are in the area of 20 million healthy fish.

The government has introduced several measures that are consistent with the recommendations from the Cohen commission, including a moratorium on aquaculture development in the Discovery Islands and an investment of $25 million in recreational fisheries conservation partnership.

All revenues from the pacific salmon conservation stamp are now provided directly to the Pacific Salmon Foundation to be invested in the salmon industry.

[The Environment, October 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts. TransCanada's work was reviewed by DFO. We relied on the best available science. We imposed strict conditions for the work to go ahead. We made all this information public.

This exploratory work was found not to cause any harm to the environment. At this point in time, only exploratory work has been approved.

[The Environment, October 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, protection of belugas is a priority for DFO. The current court case is about provincial laws and involves provincial officials.

The only work that was taking place at Cacouna was exploratory work that was approved. Projects will only move forward if they are safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.

TransCanada has not yet submitted the construction of a marine terminal for review at all.