Mr. Speaker, I too was very pleased to be part of the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans. Its 15 meetings in Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland were excellent. We had good discussions and listened loud and clear to what fishermen had to say.
I will admit that we had very good co-operation by all members of the committee in a non-partisan sense and came up with an excellent report. Not all is abed as the member for Burin—St. George's paints it in terms of the minister's response. There was an excellent response to a number of points.
Although the member wants to raise a lot of false flags in the foreign fishing issue, the minister clarified the concerns on foreign fishing. I would like to make some points relative to what the member said about foreign fishing to try to correct the record.
The catches from quotas allocated to foreign fleets in Canadian waters have dropped to less than 2,000 tonnes in recent years. They are down from an average of 350,000 tonnes in the late 1970s and 1980s. The member is shaking his head; he knows that. We still have foreign fishing within our 200 mile zone. A question needs to be asked. Why?
The fact is that this foreign fishing is under bilateral fisheries agreements with those countries that abide by our conservation objectives inside and outside 200 miles. That is an important point. Inside and outside 200 miles.
These foreign allocations do not deprive Canadian fishermen who still leave large portions of their quotas in the water every year. Some of the foreign vessels in two special Atlantic fisheries are chartered by Canadian quota holders. These foreign charters provide jobs for Canadian plant workers and new markets for Canadian companies. It is important to see that Canadians are working through the allocation of these quotas to foreign fishers.
In addition, foreign vessels fishing in Canadian waters are carefully monitored. The member talked a bit about this point. In Canadian waters they must be licensed and they must carry Canadian observers at their expense.