Evidence of meeting #8 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was question.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Timothy Sargent  Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Jean-Guy Forgeron  Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Alexandra Dostal  Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Mario Pelletier  Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Doug Wentzell  Regional Director General, Maritimes Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Niall O'Dea  Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Neil Davis  Regional Director, Fisheries Management Branch, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Arran McPherson  Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Oceans Science, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I'll just go back to a question I was trying to ask the minister while she was here, regarding herring size threshold.

Do you think the dumping of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of herring because it's just below the size threshold is a good conservation policy in Newfoundland and Labrador, or should we be following the policy that's in place in Nova Scotia?

1:05 p.m.

Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Timothy Sargent

There are a number of factors that go into the policies in the different regions. The policies are different, but they have the same conservation objective. The reality is that, when we manage a fishery, things like net size or whatever, there are going to need to be thresholds, and sometimes things will fall on one side and then on the other side.

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL

Okay. Let me interrupt. Why do we have a different policy for Nova Scotia than we have for Newfoundland and Labrador?

1:10 p.m.

Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Timothy Sargent

We have different regions at DFO to reflect the diversity of the fishing industry across our country. It's often the case that we have the same objective, ultimately, which is to preserve stocks, but we go at it in a different way. It depends on the gear. It depends on the boats. It depends on the structure of the industry and on populations.

1:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald

Thank you, Mr. Small.

That concludes our session for today. I want to thank the officials for their time here with us today and the information they've provided. I know that they've committed to responding in writing to a number of questions, so we look forward to seeing that information as well.

I wish everybody a good day.

The meeting is adjourned.