Mr. Speaker, the petitioners wish to draw the attention of the House to findings from international conservation organizations that point out that when we have marine protected areas, and Canada has committed to having 30% protected, there is a positive effect. The petition describes this as a positive spillover effect, where neighbouring fishing areas have larger populations of fish, larger sizes of individual fish and better catches.
Petitioners are calling on the House to look at what Fisheries and Oceans can do to protect our fisheries, grow our fisheries through marine conservation areas and ensure the marine protected areas are expanded.