Fisheries committee  This was, again, part of the “Ocean to Plate” series of announcements that the minister made. It was Atlantic-wide, but the announcement was made in St. John's during the last break, on April 12. The independence of the inshore fleet, which is what the honourable member is referring to, was part of that.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think I should repeat what the minister said about this last week, that is, that the government and the minister succeeded in upping that budget to $11 million two years ago. This year, under the most recent budget, there was a $20-million increase. That is an improvement.

Fisheries committee  I'll start, and if someone else wants to leap in.... This is an area of considerable controversy. On this one, as usual, there is a view that gravel removal is essential to flood control. There are also great concerns about gravel removal in terms of salmon habitat. In the context of some of these pressures, we've actually worked with the province and came up with an MOU a year or two ago—a little more than a year ago, in any case—to ensure that in fact we did address both of those concerns in an appropriate and professional way.

Fisheries committee  If I could piggyback on that, that is the one that I think really informed us, though, in the sense that it's kind of a moving target and we don't think it should be a moving target. We think the Canadian sockeye industry seems to be subject to much more stringent certification than Alaska the first time around.

Fisheries committee  To answer your question—and I'd ask Mr. Hegge or David to correct me—in terms of the estimates, fundamentally the money or the resources we're putting into this are largely A-base. In other words, we're changing how we do business over time. Having said that, moving to an ecosystem science approach, which a portion of the new science money in the budget is all about, and some elements of the health of the ocean stuff, one could argue, move us in that direction.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, that is an extremely important issue and is becoming a fundamental issue in the fishery in this country and in other countries. It is really a significant element of the change in philosophy that the minister outlined in his “Ocean to Plate” announcements in Newfoundland on April 12, and it's something we're trying to come to grips with in quite a meaningful way.

Fisheries committee  If I can add, the science side of it is $10 million to $12 million, but when we looked at all the arrangements that exist out there, I think around $23 million would be the number we could find. We could try to explain that to the committee next week. Wendy, do you want to say anything on this one?

Fisheries committee  There is absolutely no difference, Mr. Chair. It probably wouldn't surprise you to know, either, that this was probably the minister's first question. It's certainly of great interest and great concern to him. He has been assured that there will be no job losses, that the employees who are presently the crew on those two vessels will continue to be the crew on those two vessels.

Fisheries committee  I'll start, Mr. Chair, and then ask Mr. Bevan or Dr. Watson-Wright to leap into the fray. Basically, the department has done an awful lot of analysis on that. We have a policy framework that we will be taking to industry and will be bringing to this committee. I think next week is the plan to bring forward the policy framework.

Fisheries committee  I'll hand off to Mr. Da Pont in a minute. The last question is not a question we can answer here. It's a privacy issue between the department, the coast guard, and Captain Klebert. It's not an issue--

Fisheries committee  The minister definitely shares the perspective of the committee as to the importance of this issue. As Mr. Hegge said, he continues to make efforts to increase the budget. I know that he greatly appreciates the continued interest of the committee.

Fisheries committee  We are continuing our efforts in this regard; the minister is as well. As he said last week, the budget provides certain resources for infrastructure. There are some possibilities there. We are not entirely certain of it, but we continue to take the fact into account. As the minister stated, there are all sorts of priorities, of which small crafts harbours is one.

Fisheries committee  Maybe I'll begin the answer, and then I'll ask Mr. Da Pont to carry on. I guess I'd just like to say that certainly the captain in question is a very distinguished employee of the coast guard, and certainly we value the input from the coast guard alumni. All of that being said, as the minister said last week, this decision was made for operational reasons.

Fisheries committee  Yes. Absolutely.

Fisheries committee  Given the committee's support for and interest in this issue, the department would certainly want to be aware of your position before finalizing this approach. After all the meetings you have had, you are practically the best experts in the field. I believe the department will certainly support your participation.