Thank you, Madam Chair.
I thank all the witnesses for their presence.
Mr. Lansbergen, from the Fisheries Council of Canada, we learned last November that the United States was giving itself until the end of 2025 to evaluate the practices of its trading partners and determine whether the marine mammal protection measures these partners have instituted are up to U.S. standards. This paves the way for protectionism and a kind of trade war that could be called latent, hidden and surreptitious.
The United States prohibits the import of seafood products whose fishing could cause death or serious injury to marine mammals. One example is the right whale, an endangered species found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. However, at the last meeting, we were told that no right whales had died from entanglement in lobster fishing gear since measures to this effect were put in place in 2017.
In your opinion, are our protective measures sufficient and effective, and how do they compare with American standards?