Fisheries committee  —and I came to WAPPRIITA and asked myself why we aren't using this to ban species harmful to the environment. So I did bring that up to DFO, and the legal opinion is that we can't use that because there's no mechanism, the way the legislation was built, to add species to the list

Fisheries committee  But then we recognize our gap and are hoping to close that gap with these new regulations from DFO, to which we can list things, and also recognize that species in one part of the country may not be harmful while they are in another. So we're working on it.

Fisheries committee  With the regulation, yes, there would definitely be partnerships between the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments, and that's where the discussions are going on right now. The provinces certainly can ban—and many of them have banned—possession and sal

Fisheries committee  Thank you. I appreciate that question and can understand the issues there. Each department is required to do an operational review and align their resources to priority areas. For DFO, the protection of native species for the Great Lakes is a priority. Working on prevention of

Fisheries committee  For the Great Lakes, we would work with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the Province of Ontario, and the state and federal agencies in the U.S. Those are our main partners on the waters of the Great Lakes.

Fisheries committee  I think that given our continued ongoing funding with aquatic invasive species, to my knowledge, to date there have been no cuts. With this new additional funding with respect to Asian carp specifically, we would not be considering downloading anything onto them.

Fisheries committee  No, I would say that's not the plan at all. It's to continue to work with them as a strong partnership, and to leverage each other's best information, best use of resources, and expertise.

Fisheries committee  Outside of the Great Lakes, we have the ability through our partnerships to leverage education and outreach beyond the Great Lakes with small community groups. I'm not sure I can answer your question.

Fisheries committee  Right.

Fisheries committee  Yes, we absolutely work with them—

Fisheries committee  —but for plants it is....

Fisheries committee  In Burnaby, B.C., a fish was videotaped. Dr. Mandrak and I looked at it and we believe it is a northern snakehead. We do know that in Canada there are no laws prohibiting importation of any aquatic invasive species. We just don't have those regulations.

Fisheries committee  I appreciate the question, and for snakeheads, it's an interesting case study. You cannot import snakeheads into the United States. They have a federal law that prohibits import. We are importing them into British Columbia. Dr. Mandrak and I have seen them for sale in markets i

Fisheries committee  I'll let Dr. Mandrak speak to that.

Fisheries committee  With regard to the funds and where they're going to go, we are still working on those details right now. We know that the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences is very strongly committed to working with the U.S. on preventing the introduction and establishment