Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will be aware that the Federal Court of Canada last week indicated the fisheries complained of do not represent any harm to commercial fisheries. The hon. member will be aware of that because an injunction was refused to him.
The fisheries in question are part of the aboriginal fisheries strategy which is enjoined upon the Government of Canada by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
The catch allocation is modest, less than 10 per cent of the expected returns, and under the terms of the agreement all net profits from any fish sold are to be used for fisheries management projects jointly agreed to by the department and by the First Nations.