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.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
We'll now go to Mr. Small for five minutes or less.
Go ahead, please.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the honourable minister for being here today to take some questions and for providing some witness.
Earlier as the minister was being questioned by my colleague Ms. Barron, I heard the minister reference neutral science. Is there a type of science other than neutral science? Is there a biased science, and who or what would that bias be towards if, in fact, there is a biased form of science?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Thanks for that question.
Perhaps I need to clarify. I don't recall talking about neutral. I think what I said was that scientists do research and then they explore each other's outcomes and—
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
No, the question was about Alaskans taking B.C. salmon, and you referenced that perhaps we need some neutral science. Anyway, let's forget about all—
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Oh, I understand.
I meant scientists who are neither Alaskan nor British Columbian—
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
—who come in and take a look at the runs and who is catching them.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
Yes. You meant international. All right. I'm sorry.
I was a little bit uncertain as to what you meant there.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
Politically, yes, and we'll be politically correct.
The Prime Minister has mandated the minister to leave as many fish in the water as possible in a bid to reduce carbon. The minister has indicated that fish harvesters should accept this and that, with the technological advancements, they can now work remotely from home. I read that in a news article from yesterday, while I was coming back from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Could you explain to us how working remotely works in the fishing industry?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
I'm not sure exactly what the member is referring to by this.
My view is that the work that fish harvesters do is extremely important, and the blue economy strategy seeks to add opportunities to rural communities and—
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
All right, so we'll talk about some more opportunities especially here in Atlantic Canada. Currently in the Atlantic region there are no federally funded salmon enhancements, while in British Columbia, of course, there are 20 federally funded fish hatcheries.
I'll quote from the minister's mandate letter regarding an initiative for wild Atlantic salmon:
...to make new investments and develop a conservation strategy to restore and rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats.
How many salmon enhancement projects do you have in the planning stages right now for Atlantic Canada, and more specifically Newfoundland and Labrador?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
That's a question for which my officials can supply you an answer.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
Okay. That's fine, and I'll accept an answer in writing. In fact, that would be wonderful.
I have one more question here, which is actually coming from the commercial harvesting sector. Right now we have 400 non-core groundfish licences that are just hanging in limbo, and they'll die with the licence-holders. A recent decision in the Nova Scotia courts was in favour of transferring category B lobster licences.
Will that affect the 400 non-core groundfish licences in terms of transferability in Newfoundland and Labrador?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
The court decision was about the minister's decision on a particular licence. It was appealed based on the fact that there was not enough information for the determination. We accepted that. It was not setting a precedent for any of the other class B licences. These are licences that were provided decades and decades ago under the clear understanding that they were not saleable and transferable.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
My next question is on herring in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The percentage threshold of undersized herring is much lower in terms of legally taking herring and the herring quota, as compared to Nova Scotia.
Do you have any plans to have a more equitable approach in terms of allowing a higher percentage of undersized herring to be allowed to be retained in Newfoundland and Labrador?
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Fundamentally, I am focused on the long-term sustainability and the rebuilding of stocks that are in the critical zone.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL
Thank you very much.
When the harvester pulls up—
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Small, but you've gone way over your time. I wanted to give you a chance to get in your round of questions, and to get an answer to the last one.
I believe that's it for the minister, according to a message I was just passed by staff.
Am I correct in saying that? I see heads nodding.
12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Mr. Chair, it appears the Minister may have some more time available. She doesn't seem to be dragged away, so if she's able to stay, the members had requested two full hours with the minister. If she is not being dragged away, can we do another round of questions?
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
That will certainly be up to the minister, Mr. Arnold. I know her staff have indicated to me that her time was up five or 10 minutes ago. She did stay a little extra than the first hour, even though we were a bit late in getting organized and going. A lot of that is kind of our own fault, with members not getting here on time, which is always a problem, as well.
12:10 p.m.
A voice
And technical difficulties.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Yes, technical difficulties, that's right.
Continuing on, we have Mr. Morrissey, for five minutes or less, please.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Thank you, Chair.
My question is to the deputy minister.
Mr. Sargent, on numerous occasions before this committee, on a number of studies, the issue that has been raised with great concern is the alarming growth of the unreported and under-reported cash sales both in lobster and crab. This is identified as one of the most significant threats affecting these two species, which are the most sustainably successful fisheries on the east coast.
Mr. Sargent, are you aware of this concern being expressed by fishers in the industry?