Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Quebec, who is a very diligent and passionate member of Parliament, and very concerned about the environment, including the impact on marine ecosystems like our fisheries.
Obviously, salmon aquaculture on the west coast is a major concern. It was a big part of my presentation to the House.
My colleague raised an excellent point about the department knowing about the impact of viruses and disease in our waters. We farm Atlantic salmon on the west coast in open net pens. Feces and materials associated with farms go directly into the ocean. As farmers know, disease is directly related to waste management, and how we deal with that waste and how we contain disease are critical. It is even more difficult to deal with when it goes directly into the ocean.
The department has been studying this problem. It knows that viruses and the disease exist, and it knows their impact on our fisheries. Once that waste is let out into the open ocean, it is difficult to get that genie back into the bottle.
We need to prevent that. The Fisheries Act needs to prevent pollution and disease from entering wild fishery habitat.