Thank you, Mr. Chair, and let me thank all members for the opportunity to appear before the committee this morning.
My name is Derek Butler. I am the executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers in Newfoundland and Labrador. On behalf of our members, I am pleased to appear before you this morning.
ASP's members produce the vast majority of the province's seafood. Post-moratorium, some say the fishery is gone. I'm here to say today that the fishery is double the value it ever was prior to the moratorium, thanks in particular to shellfish. We remain the largest single private sector employer in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Between one-fifth and one-quarter of all Canadian seafood production is in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is an export industry. In 2010, 83% of our production was exported. In my eight years at ASP, that represents over $6 billion in exports from just one province.
Our message today is simply this: we support any and all efforts to secure a free trade agreement, but not at any price, of course. CETA represents an important opportunity for the industry I represent and all Canadian seafood producers, because our business is export, pure and simple.
While 66% of Canadian seafood production goes into the U.S., for Newfoundland and Labrador it's just 34%. Almost 20% of our exports go to the European Union. That figure is not important; it's what that figure can be in a new dispensation.
A free trade deal with Europe with reduced tariffs can mean more exports and more room for growth, because the European market is a sophisticated market. The European client is a sophisticated client. They eat way more seafood per capita than Canadians or Americans. Europe has a seafood deficit in trade terms of about four million tonnes a year. They need seafood and they cannot source it locally. We'd be proud to provide it.
Reduced and eliminated tariffs can mean new market opportunities for Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., and other jurisdictions across the country. It is worth bearing in mind that Newfoundland and Labrador is not much farther from Great Britain than it is from Winnipeg, and that Newfoundland and Labrador, by my calculations, is only 58 kilometres farther from Italy than from Vancouver, even though it may not look like it is.
The point is that we are natural trade partners with Europe. It is our backyard, but we must reduce the tariffs we face there. Those tariffs are high. They range from 12% to 20%, but we must reduce them.
It's fair to say that the tariffs are simply holdovers. They exist simply because they exist. It would be appropriate to see their elimination for the benefit of European consumers, European business, and those who want to buy Canadian seafood from Canadian seafood producers.
We have two recommendations. We ask for a complete elimination of tariffs down to zero, and that this be the immediate fruit of a Canadian-EU free trade agreement. Given the lack of an adjustment or transition period required for European seafood producers and the seafood trade deficit that exists, it makes sense to address the tariffs up front and reduce all tariffs to zero.
I should add that we must be vigilant in ensuring that as we eliminate tariffs, we do not see a commensurate rise in other trade barriers and trade walls.
I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't take this opportunity to say that the Canadian seafood industry remains an industry premised on a broken and failing model. There are constraints on strong resource management because of the socio-economic pressures brought to bear. There is a heavy reliance on EI. This model cannot attract the capital required to modernize our fleets or catch the products at the right times of year. That should concern us all, because a better industry model could contribute more to GDP as a larger contributor to Canada's wealth through exports. At present we are an underperforming asset, and that should concern this committee.
We can reduce tariffs and build new markets, but we can also fix things at home. If we dislike change, we're going to dislike irrelevance even more.
In closing, thank you for your time. Please have some seafood for dinner. We're available for questions afterwards.
Thank you.