Mr. Chair, I thought the member's comments were very insightful, especially when he was talking about this being an enormous and complicated undertaking. When we think about the country of Canada, with two and a half times the length of coastline of any other country in the world and oceans on three different coasts, it is enormous and complicated. That is one of the reasons that ministry officials work with the local harvest community and other stakeholders as they seek to translate data into conservation or fishery action.
Our government did indeed create new tools to continue to promote healthier marine ecosystems and more abundant fish stocks across the country. We now have legislative and regulatory mechanisms in place that will protect existing fish and fish habitat, prioritize rebuilding depleted fish stocks and incorporate indigenous knowledge into decision-making. Among these tools are the fish stock provisions in the Fisheries Act that create modern safeguards on fish stocks. These provisions create binding obligations to maintain prescribed fish stocks at sustainable levels and to develop and implement rebuilding plans for depleted stocks.
This has significantly strengthened our fisheries management framework. It is a major step toward better restoring and rebuilding our fish stocks, which are essential to supporting sustainable fisheries in the long run. It is a virtual circle: Ensuring that we have healthy fish stocks supports more resilient marine ecosystems, and thus they provide greater economic returns for Canada's harvesters.