Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago I asked the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans about disturbing reports coming out of Newfoundland from DFO scientists about crab stocks, how according to scientific reports from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans the crab stocks appear to be on the low end. They appear to be declining in Newfoundland and Labrador.
That is the reason I asked the question. That is a very disturbing report to hear from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans because of the similar reports we heard in the eighties and early nineties on cod stocks.
It was the responsibility of prior Conservative governments and it is the responsibility of the current Liberal governments to manage and to preserve the fish and the fish habitat.
Unfortunately the record has been quite shameful over the years. The five species of west coast salmon are in trouble. Atlantic salmon on the east coast are in trouble. Cod stocks on the east coast are in trouble. It was very disturbing to hear about the shellfish, from which we could gather great revenues if harvested properly and sustainably, which could provide economic opportunities for people in the outports.
My colleague from Labrador is a very good friend of mine and I am sure he is also very concerned about the depleting fish stocks.
We have a Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from the west coast who generally shows great concern toward the fisheries. He has stood in the House time and again and said that the precautionary principle would be the guiding principle of all decisions made by fisheries and oceans.
I could not help but notice the other day when the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced a 10,000 tonne quota cut on the cod in 3Ps. That was just announced the other day. The reason for that follows very disturbing reports that the cod in that area are not coming back.
Premier Tobin of Newfoundland, who is a former minister of fisheries and oceans, even stated that in Newfoundland and Labrador they are catching the crab far too rapidly.
When I posed a question to the minister about what would be done to preserve the precious, fragile crab stocks off Newfoundland, he said that prior to the Liberals forming the government in 1993 fisheries brought in $243 million to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Now it is $543 million.
Liberal times are good times. That was exactly his answer. He did not answer the question as to what the government would do to preserve the fish stocks.
My question is: Will the Canadian taxpayer be paying for the hangover from the Liberal good-time party if crab stocks decrease?
I do not have the scientific expertise to say that they are decreasing, but DFO scientists, who have been ignored repeatedly over the years, have the expertise. One of the classic examples of DFO officials being ignored was when Dr. Hutchings and Dr. Myers wrote a scathing report on how the DFO treats its own scientists. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans knows about that report. These very prominent scientists and fish biologists left the DFO in disgust because their recommendations and their scientific advice was ignored repeatedly by the fisheries ministers. We had dangerously low levels of cod and salmon on both coasts.
The fear which all of us have in the House and everywhere across the country will be that Canadian people will not accept the TAGS-3 program. They will not accept the ability—