Thank you, Mr. Chair and good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today.
The Fisheries Council of Canada, as many of you already know, is a national association representing wild-capture processors across the country. Actually, all of them also harvest. We promote a healthy resource and a prosperous industry playing a vital role in the Canadian economy.
I would like to start by sharing some important facts of the sector that are often overlooked or underappreciated. Canada has a strong sustainability record. DFO reports that 94% of our commercial fish stocks are harvested at sustainable levels. On top of the robust regulatory regime, the industry's adoption of independent third party sustainable fisheries management certification is multiples higher than the global average of 14%.
On the economic side, it is the leading sector in Canada's blue economy, with 90,000 jobs and $9 billion in annual GDP. It is the lifeblood of our coastal communities.
The sector takes the issues of product authenticity seriously [Technical difficulty—Editor] traceability consultations with government departments and other stakeholders. I've provided the clerk our submissions to those consultations, and those will be distributed once they are translated.
For today, I have five key messages for my opening remarks.
First, our fisheries sector is a global leader on food safety. In collaboration with CFIA, [Technical difficulty—Editor] regulators, the seafood sector was the first food sector in Canada to develop and implement what is now called the preventative control plan, one of the first regulatory systems in the world to embrace the concepts of hazard analysis and critical control point inspection systems. Under this system, Canadian fish and seafood processors maintain strict quality control measures within their operations, which include internal trace-back systems in case there is a food safety concern. Canadians, along with our global customers, can feel confident eating our fish and seafood and knowing that it is the product of one of the most advanced food safety systems in the world.
Second, misrepresentation is a limited problem. As you heard last week from CFIA, they found 92% labelling compliance for fish. As I just mentioned, domestic processors have rigorous systems in place. Major retailers, restaurants and distributors have responsible [Technical difficulty—Editor] levels and frequencies of reporting and supplier audits.
Third, it is a long-standing fact that Canadians do not eat the recommended amounts of fish and seafood, two servings per week. We have been increasingly active in promoting seafood consumption and researching the domestic market, and we will soon launch a national marketing campaign, pending funding approval. We also have a consumer guide that is in the final stages of production. Frankly, we want Canadians to eat more fish and seafood and more domestic product. Any actions on traceability must also consider the bigger picture of the health benefits of eating seafood as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. It would be unfortunate if there were any unintended consequences that reduced seafood consumption rather than reinforcing the benefits of increased consumption.
Fourth, from our own market research, we found that perceived cost was one of the main barriers to Canadians' consuming more fish and seafood. This ranked much higher than quality and sustainability considerations. This research result is similar to the broader results of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, which found that Canadians are most concerned about the cost of food, particularly in a pandemic.
Fifth, the FCC has urged the government to consider the trade-off between the prospective cost to industry and the consumer and the limited non-compliance as reported by CFIA's own investigation. Furthermore, we encourage the federal government to work with supply chain participants and to focus on specific problem areas within the supply chain to reduce the potential burdens on industry and the consumer while still working towards traceability commitments.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.