Fisheries committee  It's a growing trend, and I would say the Canadian industry, over the last two to five years, has been more interested in third-party certification and is moving in that direction. At this time, the number of standards and certification programs is growing. I'm not aware of any certification program for closed containment; it would require different standards.

Fisheries committee  That's right.

Fisheries committee  It does. That's total aquaculture in Canada.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. If that were mandated, the industry, realistically, might not even be able to survive. The industry would look at operations elsewhere if that were mandated. It could have a dramatic effect. So yes, if we moved to closed containment, it would be in different areas, close to markets and certainly not in the rural coastal communities that we have now.

Fisheries committee  It would have a pretty dramatic impact on employment.

Fisheries committee  If I could just answer your original question, I think another issue is the land base. When the British Columbia industry looked at the concept, the scenario, of taking the current industry and moving it on land, the current footprint of the industry would have had to be increased 40 times.

Fisheries committee  That's an excellent question, and there are a number of issues in addressing that question. One issue that our industry feels strongly about is that we're the only aquaculture producing country in the world that doesn't have national legislation. We don't have an aquaculture act.

Fisheries committee  To add to that, Mr. Donnelly, I think it's important to look at the big picture here. As I mentioned, our production is actually going in the wrong direction. Other countries are growing at an annual rate of 6%. There's a huge demand. As we know, the traditional capture fisheries are not going to be increasing in volume.

Fisheries committee  There was an excellent press release by the federal government a couple of weeks ago, saying that none of this had been confirmed and that CFIA was taking steps to do a comprehensive study. At that time, they said the tests would take four to five weeks. We're trying to work with them and provide more samples, if necessary, and we're looking forward to that information.

Fisheries committee  It might be more appropriate, if you don't mind, for me to pass it on to Mr. Backman, because he's been involved in that in British Columbia. I'm certainly involved as well, but I think Clare might be able to respond more appropriately.

Fisheries committee  I'll start. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the invitation to address the committee today on the topic of closed containment. My name is Ruth Salmon. I am the executive director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance. It's a national industry association headquartered here in Ottawa.

Fisheries committee  Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Fisheries committee  My response is that we're less concerned with who is responsible and who gets delegated authority and how the management of that happens; what's important is to have that framework in national legislation. It could be that nothing really changes operationally but that the legislation is still there in place.

Fisheries committee  That's a good question. Our sense is that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans actually has done an excellent job of developing regulations in a very short period of time. It was even evident when the court case came down that the ideal situation at that time would have been to go forward with legislation, but the time just wasn't there to allow that.

Fisheries committee  Half of the seafood around the world is farmed. Half of the seafood that consumers are eating is farmed.