Evidence of meeting #146 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cfia.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Former employee, Oceana Canada, As an Individual
Yes, all of our numbers are strictly of substituted species: It was one thing on the menu, and from doing did DNA testing we found that it was something completely different. We didn't look at all of the other issues that can be present.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Now we go to the Conservative side, and Mr. Doherty, for seven minutes or less, please.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Mr. Chair, thank you to our guests.
Where does your data on illegal and unreported fishing come from?
Campaign Director, Oceana Canada
It comes from studies by Daniel Pauly, out of UBC, and Sylvain Charlebois at Dalhousie. Daniel Pauly is on our board, and is a global scientist who's looked at these global numbers. In the scientific community, that is the accepted number.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Does that data go directly to where those food sources come from and where they end up on consumers' plates, or do they have the numbers of the actual amount of illegal and unreported fishing that goes on?
Campaign Director, Oceana Canada
Yes, I know it is up to 30% of the global biomass of the catch.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Okay, but would they have the actual data of the illegal and unreported fishing that's going on off our coast?
Campaign Director, Oceana Canada
Yes, I believe so. There is a paper that came out recently called “Global Fisheries' Sunken Billions”. I can get you a copy of that. It goes into great detail.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
That would be great. This leads to my next question. Have you been consulting with government departments, such as CFIA and DFO, and industry stakeholders on this?
Campaign Director, Oceana Canada
Yes, we have, when we do our reports. We've gone through an interesting progression, with the departments in the past viewing it as not really being a problem, to now, when I think there's an understanding that this is a problem that needs to be tackled. However, no one department seems to be wholly responsible. If no one person's responsible, then no one is responsible. We haven't seen anybody take leadership on this, and we've been pushing on issues. We want to continue to consult and to be helpful and additive to this, but it has been difficult to navigate the legislative framework in order to figure out what the solutions would be.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Could you forward a copy of the report to us?
Mr. Chair, you can correct me. Does it have to go through the clerk, or can she send it directly to us? We're not studying this, so...? Can the information be shared with us?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
I think I'd rather see it go to the clerk and distributed to everybody.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Either way. The witnesses will also get my card at the end of this, and we can direct it accordingly.
With that, I'm going to turn my time over to my colleague, Mel Arnold.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Your comments just a few seconds ago are tied in with one of the questions I had about whose jurisdiction and whose responsibility it is. This brings me back to the study we did on fish diseases, the aquaculture industry, and so on. There seems to be a hot-potato issue happening between CFIA and Department of Fisheries and Oceans, as no one really has the lead. I believe the last document we saw said that DFO was going to recommend that CFIA take the lead, instead of CFIA saying, “Okay, we've got the ball, we'll run with it.”
Do you see that as one of the biggest challenges? As you said, no one has the lead or the jurisdiction, so no one is responsible.
Communications Director, Oceana Canada
I think that's also something the next witness can speak to more as to where those boundaries are in that regulatory framework. It's also why we are calling for a multi-departmental task force to be put together to untangle this web to see who is going to be responsible for each piece and how we can come to a solution with all of the different departments involved,
Former employee, Oceana Canada, As an Individual
I'll add that when the United States came up with their seafood import monitoring program, it took 16 departments working together and coming up with recommendations. It is a vital first step to have all of those key players sit down at the table and tackle it together.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
I'm glad you indicated what that first step needs to be. It may only be in B.C., but I believe oysters have to be tracked from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Why is that not necessary for other fish in B.C.?
Former employee, Oceana Canada, As an Individual
That's a fantastic question. Certain kinds of shellfish have increased traceability, I think because of the disease and health risks associated with them, but it's a proof of concept that can be applied to make sure that all of the seafood we eat is tracked.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
I'm going to pass the rest of my time to Mr. Calkins.
