Mr. Chair, fisheries officers can be found throughout Canada. They monitor and verify compliance with legislation, regulations and fishing plans that support conservation and sustainable use of our resources, as well as the protection of species at risk, fish habitat and oceans.
We have a staff of 737, which includes 636 fishery officers. As I said before, since August 2006 153 new fisheries officers have been hired and there is another troop of 30 recruits who will start their training in August. All recruits undergo a three-year training program. Conservation and protection staff are located in 131 offices across the country, with 68% of them on the east coast, 26% of them on the west coast and 6% of them inland.
I can confirm that we do not have any plans to close any fishery detachment offices. We will actually be enhancing our program, if anything.