Fisheries committee  We currently have two objections alive and well at NAFO. One is by Iceland on 3M shrimp on the Flemish Cap, and that particular objection is to the management regime that's out there, the days on ground as opposed to a quota system. They've put in place a quota system that is arguably comparable to their days on ground.

Fisheries committee  Yes, I believe so.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  In terms of the delegation meetings on the NAFO convention, I don't recall any views expressed contrary to the consensus of the Canadian delegation.

Fisheries committee  There is one other point under that controversial clause whereby, at a coastal state's request and if the coastal state concurs, the NAFO regulations can apply within our zone. We discussed that clause extensively during our discussion and in the process of our review. In all aspects of the debate, nothing was brought to my attention that gave me any concern that Canada would lose or have its sovereignty eroded.

Fisheries committee  It's almost a theoretical question. We've never run across it before. It often can happen, if you can't reach agreement at a particular meeting, that you convene an intersessional. The annual meeting was held in September in Bergen, and there will be an intersessional discussion on 3M shrimp in London next month.

Fisheries committee  I won't speak about what the minister said or didn't say, but we've seen in the past that NAFO has been broken through different things that have happened. If you look at what is currently happening and has been happening for the last several years and what is on the cards around the table right now, you have total allowable catch decisions that are consistent with the position the Government of Canada has adopted.

Fisheries committee  There is a distinction between our role in preparation for and at the NAFO meetings, which are held on an annual basis, and the process that was involved in the negotiation of the new convention. In the negotiation of the new convention, we were not at the table. We received regular briefings, I would say, three to five times a year for the period of time, the two years or so, that these discussions were taking place.

Fisheries committee  I go to virtually all of them.

Fisheries committee  We pay our own expenses.

Fisheries committee  In my view, at least, there are two basic ways of looking at this. One is when people around a table like this one are making rules and regulations, quotas and sharing and measures, you have to ask yourself whether the proposed new convention helps that process or not. As we've determined and explained, the proposed new convention will help that decision-making process and solidify the shares.

Fisheries committee  Just in terms of a contracting party such as Denmark, for the Faroes and Greenland, they can now simply object to their quota share and establish unilaterally their own quota for shrimp that's five times what their quota would have been at the table. There is nothing in the existing convention that impedes that process.

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much, Chair. I am not going to repeat anything Patrick said. I'm here mostly, I suppose, as a witness to try to address questions, to the extent you have them. I jotted down a few things just as an overview for my own memory. I started in the fishing industry in 1977, coincident with the extension of the jurisdiction to 200 miles.