Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House tonight to enter this debate along with my colleagues, many of whom sit on the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
We recently returned from Newfoundland and Labrador where we held hearings on this issue. It is rather timely that just two days ago the Russian vessel Olga under Icelandic control was arrested for polluting in Canadian waters, as has already been mentioned tonight. Interestingly the 70 to 80 tonnes of mature breeding cod found in the hold illustrates the issue we are addressing tonight.
I am pleased to say that vessel was apprehended and legal proceedings are under way appropriately so. The Olga issue underscores the very reason this debate is necessary tonight. This kind of exploitation of our stocks has been going on for some time.
The committee held two days of hearings in St. John's, Newfoundland, dealing with the subject of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the most prolific breeding grounds for fish in the world and this wonderful resource has been entrusted to us to manage. Sadly the management of that resource has been lacking.
Many of the witnesses we heard had a lot to say. They were very impassioned. Their livelihoods are on the line. As mentioned by the hon. member before me, the recent census indicated that there has been an outflow. Newfoundland and Labrador has lost 40,000 people not because Newfoundlanders, as some have implied, like to be on assistance. The fact is that people left because they are looking for work. They are hardworking people.
Those who would impugn these people by saying they do not like to work are sadly missing the reality of a hardworking people who live from the resource. They were there originally because of the resource. Because of mismanagement they had to leave the homes they loved and go to other places in Canada in search of work.
We heard from many people whose loved ones are off working in Alberta, Ontario and other places. Interestingly enough we are also hearing that story on Vancouver Island where I am from. Many young people have gone to Alberta looking for work because of the problems in fisheries and forestry. The families of many elderly people are gone. Many wives and children are still there while the husbands are off in Alberta working. It will not be long before they join them. We certainly emphathize with Newfoundlanders on this issue and understand the difficulties and the agonies that face families who have to leave the homes they love because work is not available.
I would like to mention some of the testimony we heard when we were in Newfoundland which speaks to the issue more eloquently than I could. I do not believe anyone has mentioned Mr. Trevor Taylor tonight. He is a member of the house of assembly of Newfoundland and is the fisheries critic of the official opposition.
Mr. Taylor referred to the Flemish Cap and talked about an accident of nature. He said that several decades ago officials picked the number 200 from a hat in deciding that the country's coastal management zone would extend for exactly 200 miles from the shores. By an accident of nature three critical fishing areas, the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap, fell outside that 200 mile limit.
The same absurdity that set the number 200 in stone also allowed nations from the far corners of the globe to descend on those three areas, the nursery for many groundfish species and an area that many of our stocks migrate to and from. They rake and vacuum away not only the fish but the ecosystem itself.
He went on to say that nations which sponsor this wanton destruction of our continental shelf in their wisdom decided to police themselves through an organization known as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, an organization with scientists that few of them heed, rules that few of them follow, restrictions that many of them flout and a complete absence of effective penalties for violators.
Mr. Taylor went on to say that if there were a better definition of impotence he had not heard it and asked why Canada continued to participate in this farce. It was beyond him. In the years since the turbot war overfishing practices have continued unabated. Last year the number of violations of rules increased over the year before.
Canada was at the NAFO meeting in Helsingor, Denmark, in January. In its presentation at the NAFO some of the violations were mentioned. What kind of violations were we talking about?
The Canadian assessment affirms that directed fishing included excessive bycatch of moratoria species; exceeding allocations or misreporting the catch; directing fishing after the closure, particularly 3-L shrimp; an increase in frequency of mesh size violations; an increase in the issuance of citations of apparent infringements; and non-submission or late submission of observer reports.
On the mesh violations I remember Mr. Earle McCurdy who is with the Fishermen, Food and Allied Workers Union had to say. He spoke very eloquently about these issues. He is very knowledgeable about them. He actually passed around a piece of mesh that was taken from a foreign vessels.
The three levels of mesh were of successive smaller size. Mr. Earle's comment was that an anorexic sardine could not get through the net, which is definitely in violation of the regulations. It is clear that nations are not interested in conservation or in following the rules. They are interested in scooping everything out of the oceans that their nets can take.
There were details of non-compliance. There were numerous observer report excerpts from 1999 to 2000 according to Canada's report to the NAFO meeting in Helsingor. They indicated 36 tonnes of American plaice, 15 tonnes discarded while catching only 4 tonnes of skate and 28 tonnes of American plaice while catching a no moratoria species. American plaice is one of our moratoria species. The stocks have been devastated and have not recovered.
They also indicated 27 tonnes of American plaice while catching no moratoria species and another 26 tonnes of American plaice while catching only 1.2 tonnes of skate. Different observer reports indicate 25 tonnes, 24 tonnes and 24 tonnes.
These reports were from observers who were nationals working on the vessels they were supposedly observing and monitoring. As weak as the observer system is, I think it is fair to quote Mr. Alastair O'Rielly who spoke on behalf of the Fisheries Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. He is a very knowledgeable man. He has been involved in the NAFO discussions and meetings.
His comment was that Canada did not name the guilty countries at Helsingor. He said that Canada was too passive in the NAFO process, that we were too compliant and too nice, that there was no enforcement, and that the reports were incomplete and untimely.
In that the observers were from the same countries could be a problem. They have actually been found to be engaging in work aboard ships. We might wonder about the accuracy or sincerity of someone employed and paid by the company harvesting the fish.
As several of my colleagues have already pointed out it is hard for an observer to be awake 24-7. Some fishermen on the west coast work around the clock but not for too many days in a row. Certainly 24-7 is unreasonable. These ships are out to sea for long periods of time and obviously fishermen have to sleep at some time. The fishing vessels are operating 24-7. How can they observe what is happening when they are not awake?
There are non-reports, late reports, false reports and under-reporting of catch and even location. Obviously are some problems in the reporting procedure. I mentioned Mr. O'Reilly. He said that even though the reporting system is not good, when it is compared with the observation that Canada does put in place it at least has allowed us to determine that the system is not working. I imagine that is of some value to us.
Many of the people we heard from were really outraged. Jim Morgan, the former fisheries minister, was outraged again. He is an advocate of custodial management. He said that the Government of Canada cannot adequately manage the resources. He was not expressing a lot of confidence that we would be able to manage it if we did extend beyond and I think that will bring us to some recommendations, which we will come to momentarily.
We did hear about some successes at the plants that are in operation. The representative for Fishery Products International, Mr. Andrews, spoke about the yellowtail flounder. It is a positive Canadian story. There was a three year moratorium when the stocks hit historic lows around 1995, but after the three year moratorium the stocks have recovered and there is a very successful harvest going on. In this case, Canada's share of the total allowable catch is 97.5%. It is not contested by the international community and Canadians have been monitoring and managing this fishery very well. That has allowed stocks to recover for a sustainable catch.
Interestingly enough, the same is not true of the American plaice, which is also a fish that is supposed to be largely Canada's. According to foreign agreements, it is one of two stocks that is supposed to be mostly ours, yet it has not recovered, largely due to the bycatch or even directed fishing for moratoria species that foreign vessels are taking away. Interestingly enough, the yellowtail flounder, it seems, is one that stays within our territorial boundaries. The story is that fish swim, but there are some that seem to like it in our Canadian waters, and we, because of our own management, have done better. However, for those like the American plaice that stray beyond our zone, they are being devastated by overfishing.
We heard earlier from the hon. member for St. John's West. I do thank him for bringing this subject before the House. I heard him say earlier this evening that the stocks of moratoria fish that are being taken as bycatch and in illegal fishing are more than enough to keep the three Newfoundland plants now open in operation. The three plants are in Marystown, Fortune and Harbour Breton and now are in operation for 17 to 26 weeks a year. Those stocks could keep them operating 50 weeks a year with full capacity. We have a problem with the management of these fisheries and we have a problem with enforcement.
There is another issue here, which the House is aware of and which the hon. member for Sackville--Musquodoboit Valley--Eastern Shore mentioned earlier this evening.