Would you like to add to that?
Evidence of meeting #15 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was year.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #15 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was year.
A video is available from Parliament.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I can make a couple of points.
First of all, it's an enormously important program. The Great Lakes fishery is a major economic driver for the Great Lakes areas, and the Asian carp program funds that were part of this, as you note, are part of an overall $17.5-million investment by the government in Asian carp prevention.
There are four elements. There's prevention, working with such groups as the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the aquatic invasive centre in Sault Ste. Marie, and others in terms of education and doing a risk assessment around the potential impacts of what would happen if they did get into the Great Lakes areas. There's early warning, where we've identified 24 sites around the Great Lakes as potential areas that we are watching. We have work on eDNA, which identifies DNA from droppings and such in the Great Lakes themselves. There's rapid response, which we had to test twice when we found what we thought was an Asian carp in the Grand River and elsewhere in the Lake Erie basin. Testing that out has actually worked well. There's also management, where we're working on regulations and we're working on training RCMP officers, etc.
Those are the four elements. We will remain vigilant. It is an important challenge and threat to the Great Lakes, and this funding is helping in that regard.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rodney Weston
Thank you, Ms. Davidson. Your time is up.
We'll now move to Mr. MacAulay.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Minister Shea, welcome to you, and welcome to your backup team. It's good to have them here.
I apologize for being a bit late, but it's pretty rough down on Prince Edward Island, I can tell you. It's a job to get out. Anyhow, it's good to be here and good to have a chance to ask a few questions.
I think, Minister, you're fully aware of the great importance of the tuna fishery in the gulf. Hopefully you're fully aware that the hook-and-line fishery is one of the best managed and most sustainable fishery methods in the world, and that longliner fisheries have some of the most destructive means of fishing.
Are you considering an application to have an experimental longliner fishery in the gulf, and if so, why?
Conservative
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont, PE
I'm not aware of one, but I don't know if someone in fisheries management can answer that.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Not aware, but we can check and see and get back if we're wrong about that.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Thank you very much. That will relieve a lot of tuna fishers, because the tuna fishery is so valuable.
Regarding the order paper question I sent to you concerning the DFO libraries, it has been indicated to me that there is no way to track which materials were digitized, and no public outreach was done to offer the material to the public.
I just would wonder why this took place. There was material gathered for over 100 years that was valuable not to the walk-in people precisely but very much to the government scientists and the fisheries scientists. Why did this happen?
Conservative
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont, PE
The library consolidation happened because we have a walk-in client base of five to twelve people in the run of a year, so obviously it's not the best use of taxpayers' funds. Everything that is in that library has been maintained, will all be digitized, because that's what people are asking for now. Many of the publications have been given to other partners who have research collections.
This is responding to, I guess, the 21st century requests that we're getting for information. That's how people want their information now. They're not actually going to the library. We've ensured that all of the material is maintained. It will all be digitized, and we'll provide a better service to the public.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Thank you, Minister, but your order paper letter to me indicated that your department had no way to track what was digitized and what was not, so how can we know what was saved and what was not saved? How do you know what material was saved and what material was not saved? What amount of time did the scientists have to evaluate this material and to know what should be saved?
We all saw the dumpsters out, and the material going, and a lot of people involved in the library system quite concerned about what was taking place. I'd just like you to elaborate on that, if you could.
Conservative
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont, PE
Everything has been saved. Anything that has been disposed of would have been 45 copies of the same magazine. We don't need to keep 45 copies of the same magazine. The originals of everything have been saved. Whether or not we have a list of everything that has been digitized—I'm sure that exists in different forms—eventually everything will be digitized.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
The problem I have is with a letter that I received from you that indicates quite clearly that DFO has no way to track which DFO library of material has been digitized and that no outreach has been done to offer the material to the public.
Was the letter right or they don't know? I can't understand how you could tell me in a letter that you do not know what's digitized and then you're telling me that whatever should be digitized is digitized? Is the letter right?
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Everything will be digitized, so we can only go by your words that it will be digitized; and the letter I received from you indicating that we do not know, I disregard.
Conservative
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont, PE
I'm sure we know it's all going to be digitized. I can't tell you for sure whether or not there was an itemized list of everything that has been digitized,
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
My only concern is that the letter I got back tells me there's no way of tracking what has been and what has not been, but whatever, we've dealt enough with that.
The small craft harbours program has been continually cut. As you realize it was over $200 million at one time; and $111 million in 2012-13 and now it's down to $94 million. The DFO report on plans and priorities forecasts a budget of $92 million for 2016-17. As for this year's budget announcement of $40 million over two years on a cash basis, can you give us any detail on how, when, and where this $40 million would be spent? How would you access it?
Conservative
Gail Shea Conservative Egmont, PE
The $40 million, of course, was put in place to be spent over the next two years and to accelerate the work that needs to be done. So we take health and safety issues into account when making decisions on which harbours get priority. The small craft harbour budget has not been cut. As a matter of fact $20 million has been added to the base budget of small craft harbours.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The $94 million is our opening budget, sir, from the main estimates of $94.277 million. We will seek the budget increase the minister referred to from budget 2014 in addition to that amount.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The $20 million per year for two years, so we'll get $20 million on top of the $94.3 million.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
So per year it'd be around $100 million and it was $111 million last year. In the new math I have, that would be a cut in the budget.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Maybe I'm adding wrong, but $94.3 million plus $20 million would put us up in the $114 million range and that would be in excess of $111 million.
Liberal
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
I apologize, my math was wrong.
Thank you very much.
Madam Minister, there's great concern, of course, about habitat protection and what's going to be protected and what's not going to be protected. The DFO fisheries protection program will face a $15-million cut over the next two years. Can you comment and explain how these moves will be put in place and what the cut will be?
