Mr. Speaker, thank you for your wise judgment that marine actually means something that is in the water. Of course marine management means management of something in the water.
Apart from the other things I mentioned that were missing prior to the advent of this government, if we ask the fishermen of Quebec what the next worst thing in marine management and conservation that affected their lives has been in the past, the biggest error ever made by a former federal government, they would say the non-protection of the sea bed. They would say that for a very good reason. We have over the years allowed the massive destruction of our ecosystem and allowed intensive dragging of the ocean floor in our commercial fisheries.
I will give an example of the importance of marine conservation. Last year there were 123 draggers that took part in the shrimp fishery on the continental shelf. There were 6 Canadian vessels and 117 foreign vessels. These were 350 foot vessels with huge plates on either end of a drag, 10 feet long, 8 feet high, 4 feet thick, iron and steel that drag the bottom of the ocean and create a virtual vortex of sediment in the middle like a sand storm on the bottom of the ocean, destroying everything in its path. That is why the Government of Canada, in referring to what the member for Drummond said, is not only interested in what takes place inside the 200 mile zone, but is interested in extending our jurisdiction. Before the next federal election the government is also intent on extending jurisdiction in order to stop this massive destruction of the bottom of the sea floor.
The parliamentary secretary was there when we had our public meetings in the province of Quebec, all along the shore from Blanc-Sablon down to the Gaspé coast. These fishermen and fish plant workers want to make sure the Government of Canada stops the destruction of the food supply of our cod, salmon and turbot.
The Government of Canada is firmly there to say no to these totally destructive methods of fishing that have taken place in the past which former governments have been guilty of, especially the former Progressive Conservative government which ruled the fishery in those days.
It is very unfortunate that the Bloc is not in favour of the principle of marine conservation. The Government of Canada will make sure we advance in the future to protect our marine environment.