Fisheries committee  Yes. This is exactly one of the points envisioned in the amendments to the administration and enforcement section of the Oceans Act, section 39. The bill proposes that the minister be able to “designate persons or classes of persons” for the administration and enforcement of the act.

Fisheries committee  I'll go back to the point you were asking about earlier concerning coordination. This is one reason the interim protection MPA is subject to the Statutory Instruments Act. We work closely with other departments and agencies, not just federally but also with provincial and municipal authorities and Indigenous governments, because they too can authorize activities in the marine environment.

Fisheries committee  I would say that the way we go about establishing marine protected areas is an ongoing dialogue, in terms of going from an ecologically and biologically significant area all the way through the process to establishing an MPA through regulations. There are many points of intervention, but it's often the case, when we're first introducing the subject in areas in which there haven't been efforts to do marine protection, that there's a lot of concern that we will not take into account the social and economic impacts on their livelihoods.

Fisheries committee  Sure. The Canada Petroleum Resources Act is administered by the Minister of Natural Resources south of 60, more or less, and north of 60 it's by the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. In that context, the proposed amendments to the legislation outline a process to deal with legacy permits that are in place on the west coast and in the north, for which there has been, for example, on the west coast, a moratorium on oil and gas activities for 45 years.

Fisheries committee  It's a permit that has been issued by the government, so it has a legal status. The fisheries are considered a common property resource, and therefore the ownership of the fish is once it's landed on the vessel, rather than when it's swimming in the water.

Fisheries committee  The MPA establishment process is one that has been ongoing for quite some time. The program initially, after the Oceans Act's passage, invested a tremendous amount in ecosystem science, and the most important output of that research was the identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas, which Kevin spoke about earlier.

Fisheries committee  I would say that we're starting to see the fruits of our labour over the past 10 or 15 years of investment in science and in consultation. There's been a lot of work done at the federal, provincial, territorial, and community levels on the development of networks of MPAs. The idea is that the networks identify sites linked ecologically on an ecosystem basis that provides overall protection to an area.

Fisheries committee  I don't know that I could characterize it that way, Mr. Chair. I would just say that—

Fisheries committee  We certainly received a lot of investment in the program over the past couple of years, and in terms of turning that investment into results there has been a lot of effort by people across the department, not just in the oceans program but in our fisheries management sector, as well as our policy sector, to help the government achieve its mandate commitment of 5% protection.

Fisheries committee  The risk-based approach is one that involves a lot of communication and a lot of consultation. It's not a one-off transaction. When we go forward and say that these are the areas we know are sensitive, we are not only sharing what we know, but we're also receiving a lot of useful information from people who are on the water all the time concerning what they've observed as important areas.

Fisheries committee  I was just going to say that in terms of the current practice of the establishment of MPAs, it's important to know that the way the Oceans Act is structured, all activities are considered not allowed until it's been determined that they are not incompatible with the conservation objectives.

Fisheries committee  Yes, the Oceans Act as currently written allows the Governor in Council to prescribe regulations on classes of activities, but as of yet there have been no regulations passed under the Oceans Act in that regard.

Fisheries committee  In the most recent MPA that was established off Cape Breton, yes, there is a 75% core as a protection zone, which is restricted to all fishing. Then in the other parts of the zone it is restricted to mid-water trawl. The intention of that particular MPA is to protect the general biodiversity of St.

Fisheries committee  It may be that we're talking not about marine protected areas but about marine refuges, which are the other effective area-based measures, some of which were announced in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The fishing activities that are not incompatible with the objectives of those particular closures are still allowed to continue.

Fisheries committee  Yes. The authority in the Oceans Act is under section 33, which envisions consultations broadly and includes the opportunity to seek advice from experts on this particular matter.