Fisheries committee  As you probably know, a large part of budget 2017 is back in the oceans protection plan. There is going to be quite a substantial investment, particularly in science, resource management, and a number of things in the Coast Guard domain. I would also draw attention to investments that are going to be made in the areas of aquatic invasive species.

Fisheries committee  I guess from our point of view, the answer in terms of how the oceans protection plan unfolds is really in two parts. If I may, I'll just be parochial for a minute. There's a substantial involvement of Transport Canada in the oceans protection plan, which will do a whole series of things with respect to conservation and stewardship of the shipping industry and marine safety.

Fisheries committee  Thanks very much, Mr. Chair. As you pointed out, my title now rivals the names of some ridings. It has challenged our business card production, particularly in French.

Fisheries committee  I'd like to start out by saying thank you very much for inviting the department to be here today. My colleague Rebecca Reid has had a little delay down in security, so she'll be joining us fairly shortly. We have a number of introductory remarks to make, and as you've already pointed out, Sylvie Lapointe, who is the assistant deputy minister for fisheries management is with us as well.

Fisheries committee  Just a bit, Minister. For us, we don't tag various program activities specifically related to a particular Cohen commission recommendation. Many of the programs—indeed, the vast majority of them in British Columbia—touch on multiple elements of the Cohen commission, so it's difficult for us to say that action X, Y, or Z and dollar A, B, or C tag to Cohen, and therefore to total it.

Fisheries committee  I have a couple of things, I guess. First, we have a comprehensive risk assessment under way in British Columbia to look at these very issues. It's in its infancy. It is continuing. The new resources that we have through budget 2016 are to augment and expand the disease risk assessment work that's under way now.

Fisheries committee  Thanks very much, Mr. Chair. I have a couple of very brief introductory remarks, and then Dr. Brattey will take over the floor. I will begin by saying thanks very much to the committee: (a) for undertaking this study and (b) for having us here before you today to look at northern cod, in particular off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Fisheries committee  Minister Duncan and Minister Tootoo are going to make a fairly major announcement tomorrow morning on the disposition of our new science resources. A recurring theme in that, and what we are going to be moving towards, is a much bigger focus on partnership. The kind of thing you're describing is very much how we're orienting ourselves to do the science, the management, or what have you, but particularly, the collection and assembling of knowledge around conservation.

Fisheries committee  The majority of water quality monitoring programs are delivered by Environment Canada. There's a percentage, but I don't think we can give that right off the top of our head. Provinces are quite heavily involved in that as well. Certainly, it goes back to one of the comments we heard earlier, where we were trying to understand water quality and water quality conditions and relate them to populations.

Fisheries committee  I guess there are a couple of ways to come at this question. The first is that you can't manage what you don't understand. Really, a big part of what we're trying to do is understand what's happening to these animals when they leave. There are some people who argue very strongly—you would be perhaps one of them—that the main reason for the decline is striped bass.

Fisheries committee  Did you ask me that question before?

Fisheries committee  It's an unusual reference, so I was wondering where you got that one from. It is. There are two things we're aiming to do. One is we're hoping to put more tracking devices on fish on both coasts. We are also seeing dramatic improvements in the technology for that. It is similar, sir, to the program you're referencing, but with much more developed technology and much stronger receivers.

Fisheries committee  There is not much in the ocean.

Fisheries committee  The main impact of acid rain is in the spawning grounds.

Fisheries committee  Nova Scotia, for example, is an area particularly vulnerable to acid rain. We see changes in the nature and the quality of the spawning habitat of Atlantic salmon. This affects a whole variety of animals.