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  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. You will recall from our testimony here earlier in the week that I was accompanied by Mr. Allan MacLean and Mr. Tim Angus. With your permission, we have also invited Ms. Angela Bexton to join us. Angela was part of the Canadian delegation to the

Fisheries committee  There is one instance that I'm aware of in which a foreign-flag vessel fishing outside of Canada's exclusive economic zone was directed by its flag state into a Canadian port. But under legislation as currently enacted, my understanding is that unless the boat requests entry into

Fisheries committee  I might turn to my colleague. Mr. MacLean might be able to give you a more precise indication of how frequently citations have been issued over the past decade. Allan, do you have that?

Fisheries committee  Yes, and we'll come back on that.

Fisheries committee  I was trying to allude to the fact that...I mean, as an illegal activity, IUU fishing inevitably evolves over time. While we believe that the port state measures agreement implementation act, Bill S-3, represents an important step forward, inevitably those engaged in illegal acti

Fisheries committee  Again, Allan may be best placed to answer this question, but my understanding is that.... I mean, clearly they do collaborate. Conservation and protection officers and Canada Border Services Agency officers work collaboratively as it is when foreign-flagged vessels enter Canadian

Fisheries committee  Again, in both cases the intent of the definitional changes is to bring Canada into conformity with the international agreement in question. The agreement has a fairly broad definition of fish and marine life, so we've tried to capture that in the amendments that are included i

Fisheries committee  In some respects, depending on developments in regional fish management organizations to which we are party, this bill could conceivably make a helpful contribution to bringing some scrutiny to the import of shark fins, but it won't do so in the near term, the reason being that i

Fisheries committee  I will again turn to my colleagues, but the high-level answer as I understand it is that we have an obligation under the international law of the sea to provide a mechanism for the prompt release of foreign-flagged crew and ships that have been seized. There is a bonding process

Fisheries committee  —container vessels. The kinds of situations in which harvest is transferred from a fishing vessel to some other vessel would fall within the scope of the act if the amendments in this bill were adopted. That is the intent.

Fisheries committee  I'll certainly try. Again, my colleague Allan MacLean may be better placed to offer details. The way the Department of Justice officials have explained it to us is that the language in the amendment is fairly standard legal language in terms of how one goes about obtaining a warr

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the questions. I'll try to answer them in order. In terms of bringing Canada into compliance with the treaty and Canada's contribution to entering into force of the global treaty, beyond passage of this bill in order to bring ourselves into conformity with the req

Fisheries committee  Again, Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for an excellent question, and again I may turn to my colleague for his insights. It is true that at an international level there is concern about fishing in the Arctic, in the high Arctic, and about whether we have an adequate reg

Fisheries committee  That's probably a question that Allan could offer perspectives on. In terms of the number of foreign-flagged vessels that enter Canadian ports, I think it varies from year to year. They aren't huge in number. I think they typically number in the dozens. I'm not sure that they've