Fisheries committee  No. In terms of the domestic fishery sector, this bill is targeted exclusively at foreign fishing vessels. It will have no impact on the domestic fishing sector. Insofar as it helps to curtail IUU fishing, it will be beneficial for the domestic fisheries sector, because one of the detrimental impacts of IUU fishing is that it depresses pricing in global markets for fish products.

Fisheries committee  Because the bill will for the first time cover the importation of fish products into Canada, for those importing any kind of product into Canada, there would be some requisite forms that need to be filled out and that kind of thing. With the regulations that could follow the passage of this bill, there might be some incremental effort required on the part of importers of fish products to comply with the legislation.

Fisheries committee  Again, I will perhaps turn to Mr. MacLean, who may be able to offer greater precision than I on that matter. As well, I don't know, Allan, if you were able to lay your hands on the document you were seeking in response to the earlier question.

Fisheries committee  Allan or Angela may wish to offer their perspectives, but when we talk about IUU fishing, we are talking about a global problem. We know that the problem.... In global terms, Canada is a very minor contributor to it. We have a very robust regime—

Fisheries committee  Well, by definition, it's hard to be certain about the level of illegal activity.

Fisheries committee  I would guess that we would have data on enforcement actions taken where we have identified instances of illegal fishing. Obviously, almost by definition, we can't know about those that we did not observe, but we take action where we see them, and as a result are confident that it is a relatively minor problem in Canada.

Fisheries committee  Well, because it is a very serious problem globally, and we are trying to do our part to help address a problem that is, although minor in Canada, serious globally. In so doing with this legislation, it is also our view that we will improve, in a very common-sense way, the enforcement powers of our fisheries officers and other law enforcement officials.

Fisheries committee  It is a cooperative agreement, yes, and—

Fisheries committee  What I can say is I believe it's true that there have been 11 countries that have acceded to the treaty to date. In addition to that, if memory serves, there are, I think, a total of 35 or so that have signed the treaty or otherwise the state in question has indicated its intent to ratify the treaty.

Fisheries committee  It's hard to put a precise timeline on it, but as I said, there are dozens of countries going through processes similar to what we are going through now.

Fisheries committee  This is fairly speculative on my part, but I would hope that within a couple of years we would see this treaty enter into force. We do believe, though, that beyond simply bringing Canada into compliance with this treaty, this legislation will give our law enforcement officials additional abilities to carry out their responsibilities more effectively.

Fisheries committee  Okay.

Fisheries committee  What I would say is this. There is—we're speaking, I think, in a NAFO context—a process whereby information is shared by countries undertaking enforcement measures in the NAFO zone. We believe that a greater transparency in that regard would be beneficial.

Fisheries committee  What I was going to suggest was that we would certainly be willing to undertake with the NAFO parties a suggestion that greater transparency be brought to the information sharing—

Fisheries committee  No, it doesn't mean no. It means that I believe you've made a constructive suggestion that we, upon reflection, have thought is worth raising with our NAFO partners—