Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to present a petition with collected signatories from beyond my riding, but including my riding.
The petitioners are very concerned about what we know about bottom trawling, in other words, pulling enormously heavy draggers along the ocean floor, removing everything in their path. It is a non-selective fishing method and the term “nets” hardly describes it. They are heavy implements that actually do enormous destruction.
The United Nations and various international agencies have called for an end to bottom trawling. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has provided data on specific ground fish species, but has not yet acted to protect the entire ecosystem.
Therefore, the petitioners are asking the House of Commons to implement the 2011 United Nations convention that calls for a moratorium on bottom trawling, otherwise known as clear-cutting the ocean floor.