Mr. Speaker, as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and member for Parliament for Hillsborough, Prince Edward Island, I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words in this important debate.
First, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. member for St. John's West for his ongoing interest in this matter. He certainly put a lot of time, effort and energy into this matter over the last number of years. It is important not only to his native province, but to Canada as a whole. As a fellow Atlantic Canadian, I certainly share his frustration.
I would also like to thank the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans for its report on this issue. The Government of Canada welcomed the work of the committee and gave serious consideration to the report and the recommendations made in the report.
Indeed, the Government of Canada fully recognizes that foreign overfishing of straddling stocks on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap is a very serious problem. Such blatant non-compliance with NAFO regulations has a direct impact on our coastal communities in Newfoundland, on the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada as a whole, and by extension everyone who makes their living from the sea.
I share a lot of the facts, submissions and statements made by the hon. member for St. John's West. I associate myself with those remarks.
The minister takes this issue very seriously and is acting promptly. He has made a commitment to enhance our NAFO program. Shortly after his appointment, he visited the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In actual fact he took a flight over the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and saw first hand where the overfishing was taking place.
When in Newfoundland, he asked his officials for a proposal to deal with the overfishing problem. This proposal will include an increase in our at-sea presence in the NAFO regulatory area, a strategy to engage our allies within NAFO, work on organizational reform and the implementation of the United Nations fisheries agreement. A comprehensive strategy is now under consideration by the departmental officials.
The Government of Canada takes this issue very seriously. Just last month the Prime Minister discussed the whole issue of overfishing in international waters at the World Economic Forum.
However, the motion before the House today says that the Government of Canada should take immediate action to extend the custodial management over the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. To take immediate action is to turn our backs on the international community and the attendant societal, economic, political and perhaps even military ramifications that would occur.
The government is committed to working with our international partners to come to a satisfactory solution, but let me assure my colleagues that if these efforts fail, the government will then consider all its options.
It is for those reasons the government will not be supporting this motion today.
Canada needs the opportunity to effect change within the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization. We need to be an active participant in the management decisions about the fish stocks on which thousands of Canadians rely, and cooperating with our international partners yields results. The progress we made at the last NAFO meeting in September proves that we can make a difference by working with our international partners.
Clearly, we have to improve the situation. The government is vigorously making the case to our NAFO partners and there is an urgent need for vessels to follow NAFO's rules and for government to take action when these rules are violated.
We are making some progress in continuing to convince parties of the need for major reforms.
Canada's goal is to work with its partners throughout the industry and throughout the world to make improvements. This cooperative approach is the best one if we want to make lasting improvements.
There have been some recent developments. In November of last year Canada signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but more important on December 19 of last year the European Union and its 15 member states signed the United Nations agreement on the straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks. That is a very significant development that gives Canada all the attendant tools of this agreement which deals with conservation, enforcement, sustainability and cooperation. That agreement took effect on December 18 of last year, only six weeks ago. That is another tool at this country's disposal to deal with the issue on a unilateral basis. I am pleased that Canada is not alone in wanting these improvements.
In many meetings, nations like Iceland and Norway have expressed similar dissatisfaction with what is going on. They have also expressed a willingness to move forward on real, lasting change for the way our fish stocks are managed on the high seas. They recognize, as Canada does, our responsibilities: a responsibility to ensure that the rules of the fishery are being followed; a responsibility to ensure that those who do not follow the rules are punished; and a responsibility to make sustainable development a number one priority for the future.
I am confident that by working with our partners around the world, we can translate our shared commitment to the future of our fisheries into a reality. Using a diplomatic, multilateral approach is the first approach, but I want to make it clear that it is not the only approach. That is why I cannot support the hon. member's motion.