Fisheries Committee on Nov. 6th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

We'll call the meeting to order. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are studying the Canadian seal hunt.

Welcome to our witnesses. We have Mr. John Kearley, Mr. Rene Genge, Mr. Wilf Aylward, and Mr. Jean Richard Joncas, who has just joined us. We welcome you, gentlemen.

I'm Gerald Keddy. I'm the chair of the fisheries committee for the House of Commons. I'm the member of Parliament for South Shore—St. Margaret's in Nova Scotia.

I'm just going to go around the table. I'm going to go counter-clockwise this time, and we'll end up with Gerry Byrne, member of Parliament for this area, and then I'll give Gerry a chance to welcome people as well.

Do you want to go ahead?

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

I'm Randy Kamp, member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission in British Columbia, and I'm also Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

I'm James Lunney. I'm the member of Parliament for Nanaimo—Alberni, Vancouver Island. I'm a coastal person too. I have a lot of coastal communities in my riding and I'm part of the fisheries committee.

[Fabian Manning, Conservative, Avalon, NL]

Hi. I'm Fabian Manning, from the Rock--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon riding. I'm pleased to be in St. Anthony again.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Good morning. My name is Raynald Blais and I represent the riding of Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine in Quebec.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

I'm Scott Simms from down the highway, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

My name is Gerry Byrne. I'm the member of Parliament for this riding, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte.

I'm delighted to welcome my colleagues and our staff, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, to St. Anthony and to Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, specifically to the Northern Peninsula. I think we have a very adept and professional group of witnesses who will provide a unique perspective on the issues the committee will be following in the next several weeks, as we write our report on issues that affect Canadian sealing.

Mr. Chair, I welcome each and every one of you to St. Anthony, and say a special thank you to the committee for coming here and hearing directly from witnesses--from fishermen, from company representatives--those who are involved directly in the issues that we'll be producing a very important report on to inform the government about where we see the direction of the Canadian sealing industry going, and additionally, vessel replacement and the safety rules affecting.... We're going to have two halves.

For those who are watching, I want to say a couple of quick words. This is exactly how a standing committee would operate in Ottawa. This is the nature and the process. For those who will be presenting, it's very informal. Don't feel as though you are under any specific rules or regulations. The standing committee does operate in this way. We hear witness testimony. There is a set process that's followed. Most importantly, I think each and every one of us want you to just say what's on your mind and give us good informed opinion as to exactly how to approach these important issues.

It's very relaxed, very informal, and that's the best way to proceed. If anyone's a little bit uptight or concerned about making a formal presentation, just take a cool-down, because we're all here just to listen. Don't be concerned about the process per se.

We're going to have some site visits afterwards. As I understand, Mr. Chair, we might have an opportunity to visit the shrimp plant. There's a multi-million-dollar shrimp plant that's been established here in St. Anthony. There's a cold storage facility and some other businesses that are here, including an iceberg water bottling plant, which we are benefiting from at the table—

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

I thought that was vodka.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Well, you should open up yours--you never know.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

It's like a loot bag--you don't know what's in there.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

I also want to say, Mr. Chair, a special thank you to Jerome Ward, who did a lot of the work in organizing some of this.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Thanks, everyone, for coming. I really appreciate it. Thank you to the witnesses for your preparation on these issues.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you, Gerry.

I have just one more housekeeping matter. There is simultaneous translation for anyone who requires this. There are more machines up front here if you want to get one. Part of the hearings will be in French, so if anyone requires simultaneous translation you can get it now.

Without any further ado, we will move along to our first witness.

[John Kearley, General Manager, Carino Company Limited]

I guess if I sound nervous, it's because I am.

I'll introduce myself. My name is John Kearley. I'm the general manager of Carino Company Limited. Carino operates a large sealskin processing facility in South Dildo, Trinity Bay, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Carino Company was incorporated in Newfoundland in February of 1957, as the first overseas subsidiary of GC Rieber & Co of Bergen, Norway.

The name Carino is actually an acronym, and it's derived as follows: the CA comes from Canada, the RI comes Rieber, and the NO comes from Norway.

First I'd like to address a few DFO administrative habits that have led to difficulties in terms of quota overuns, in some instances, and quotas not being taken during the sealing season over the past few years.

As you are all aware, many sealers operate under a daily hail or daily count, which is DFO's main information source to ensure that quotas are enforced. Unfortunately, during the sealing season there are both weekends and holidays and in past years the DFO staff have not been available during those times. That, in turn, has led to quota overruns. The result has been that when the system is—

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Mr. Kearley—

[John Kearley]

Yes, I'm sorry.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

—because we're having simultaneous translation at the same time you're speaking, I'd request you to slow down a little bit.

[John Kearley]

I'm trying to get it all in, in quick time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

We're going to try to give everyone time to speak here, but if you could slow down a little bit, it would be helpful.

[John Kearley]

Okay, fine.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Mr. Chair, a quick point.

In terms of giving a chance to everyone to speak, I know, John, you have a fairly lengthy presentation, which we've received. I understand the clerk has.... Have you had a chance to receive it?

I don't know how you want handle it, Mr. Chair, in terms of time for overview of presentations versus questioning. Would you like to address that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

I think most of the membership would agree it's important to hear what people have to say. At the same time, I know everyone will have questions.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

For the sake of people in the audience and our witnesses, our committee, in the past and presently, have been very supportive of the sealing industry and have worked hard, in a really proactive way, to help the industry. If you can keep your presentations to ten minutes--that means to hit the highlights--it would be helpful.