As I indicated earlier, the observer reports were offered to the committee in camera. There is confidential commercial information in those observer reports. The worry was that if they were not offered in camera in a confidential way, as the member for Burin—St. George's said, he would make that information public.
The opposition parties really should have looked at the reports. Then they could have confirmed publicly without giving the details that what the minister is saying is correct. The fact is they did not want to admit that the minister is correct on this particular issue in terms of what those observer reports state. Those are the facts.
Despite the fact that these charters benefit Canadians, some have argued that these fish should be allocated to Canadians. That would be great, but Canadians do have the first right of refusal for all fish in Canadian waters. Before any foreign allocations are made, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans undertakes extensive consultations with industry and the provinces.
I believe that the member for Burin—St. George's indicated that he knew of two people who are interested. I would hope he would bring that information forward and negotiations could go on. Maybe they could get their allocation.
Finally, we need to remember that the 200 mile nautical zone is a matter of international consensus. It was established during the negotiations of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea in the 1970s of which we were one of the key players.
Let me move on to a couple of other points that I want to clarify and question the hon. member on. The member talked about the—