Evidence of meeting #4 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was seals.
Conservative
John Cummins Conservative Delta—Richmond East, BC
Yes, it will, because the summation has already been delivered.
Is there a possibility that this seal meat could be utilized for fish farm use or for poultry? Is that a possibility?
Secretary Treasurer, Grey Seal Research and Development Society
Yes. We're having talks with the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro about doing research for different kinds of feed.
We're more excited about the report we received from China saying give us bigger animals, butcher them like a hog, send us loins, ribs, and so on. The Newfoundland export has been the beater, the small juvenile, which is really not a good product. You need the larger animals. I understand from our Chinese importer that they have a method of processing this meat to make it highly desirable.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gerald Keddy
Thank you very much, Mr. Cummins.
Thank you, Mr. Morrow.
In closing, I would like to state that in the past, the committee has come out in support of a sustainable seal hunt. We recognize some of the obstacles facing your industry, and we are working on them.
One of the items for discussion will be to take another look at the seal hunt on the east coast. Whether we do that as a committee study has not been approved yet, but it's something that's under discussion. That includes some direct interaction with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which has been extremely problematic in their understanding of how the hunt is carried out in Canadian waters. They've been very much against the Canadian seal hunt. We feel that's perhaps an avenue where we can work, parliament to parliament, to overcome some of those obstacles that the industry faces on a regular basis.
Thank you again for appearing.
This meeting is adjourned.