Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I certainly appreciate the commentary that I'm hearing today. It's certainly good to get the perspective of the industry.
In the question I have--and this is to all members who are here--the line of questioning I'm going to go down is on aquatic invasive species. If you go the Department of Fisheries and Oceans website, it says here:
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) have already been responsible for significant devastation of some native fish species and fisheries in Canada. Annually, the problem is responsible for billions of dollars in lost revenue and control measures. Canada, with its huge freshwater resource and extensive coastline, is especially vulnerable to this threat.
If you go down and take a look at the number of aquatic invasive species that are listed on there, sea lampreys are credited with being introduced into the Great Lake regions through ballast waters, and zebra mussels in the Great Lakes area are attributed to ballast water. In your knowledge, has anybody in the industry ever been held to account for the introduction of some of these aquatic invasive species? We can talk about green crabs, we can talk about club tunicates, we can talk about the Japanese oyster, we can talk about round gobies in the Great Lakes, and the rusty crayfish, and the list goes on. Has anybody ever, through the legislation, whether it's the environmental legislation or a transfer legislation, or whether it's through the Canada Shipping Act, been held to account for the millions of dollars of devastation that aquatic invasive species have caused?
I'd like to hear your comments on that.