Fisheries committee  No one in NAFO asked for.... There are three coastal states in NAFO: us, the United States, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. But for all practical purposes it's us.

Fisheries committee  I'd like to briefly speak to Mr. Weston's comment. I haven't read that particular part of the DFO website. International law evolves. If I were in charge of communications for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, I would not have on our website that you can't do it out there.

Fisheries committee  I think it's nonsense to claim that, in respect to what most people claim as “custodial management”. I do not agree with it. The new regime that we have is, in my personal opinion, and if given the choice between the old regime and the proposed new regime—on the balance of all considerations—an improvement.

Fisheries committee  I'd say that overall in NAFO, the benefit of the onboard observers on vessels has probably been less than had been hoped for in the initial stages. With all of this stuff, we're talking about incremental progress. It isn't some glorious breakthrough we're talking about here; at best we're talking about incremental progress.

Fisheries committee  I don't think that has any connection with NAFO. There is an ongoing dialogue internationally on fishery subsidies through the FAO, the fisheries department in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. They've been having endless trade meetings, part and parcel of the Doha Round or the Uruguay Round, whichever is the most recent one--Doha, I think.

Fisheries committee  On the first one, just briefly, Canada can already do that, and did exactly what you described for years and years, by trading access to fish in the Canadian zone in return. So there is nothing new in what's proposed in the convention in that regard. The objection procedure, which I often refer to as the objectionable procedure, was automatically used by the Europeans for a number of years.

Fisheries committee  I've been at NAFO with several different administrations heading up the government in Canada at different times, and I can't imagine any of the ministers who've been on either side of the current House or their predecessors ever saying.... There was a time, as I said, when we had a practice of trading fish for access to market and all that stuff.

Fisheries committee  In terms of outside 200 miles, I guess that happened once in the case of the Spanish vessel the Estai back in 1995, the so-called Turbot War. I believe the vessel had a Canadian flag, not a NAFO flag, when it made the arrest, if my memory serves me well. Currently, Canadian vessels operate under a NAFO flag, and there are provisions where they have the right to board.

Fisheries committee  I think they could do that currently. I don't think they need a change in the NAFO convention in order to be able to say---

Fisheries committee  My take on that particular point and my understanding of where that language came from was that it was modelled on NEAFC, which is the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, which deals with the other side of the Atlantic. I'm not absolutely certain, but that's my recollection.

Fisheries committee  Yes, but at one time our involvement was less than it has been more recently. In the last several years, DFO has developed a practice of having several Canadian industry consultations a year on NAFO issues, perhaps three or four during the course of the year prior to the meeting, in which there are updates on various NAFO files and an opportunity for input from industry people on whatever the options might be for dealing with the issues of the day.

Fisheries committee  I don't know if any others have linked demands for shares, and I'm not sure if there is a link.

Fisheries committee  With or without linkage. Certainly the United States clearly has been continuously looking for something so they can go home and say we got something out of NAFO. There are a couple of parties who from time to time will pop up and say “What about us”, but don't really seem to press the point much beyond that, Korea being an example.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to come today. I don't have any kind of detailed presentation, because I didn't come looking for this gig. I was asked if I wanted to appear, and I said I'd be glad to. Members might like to hear that an interesting thing developed in my taxi ride over from the hotel this morning.

Fisheries committee  On the matter of the NAFO, I just want to give a real brief background on my role in NAFO. I'm not obviously a government representative, so therefore I've been to a great many NAFO meetings and never once had the opportunity to speak one single word officially at the table, because the way it works is that the only spokesperson for each country is the government representative who heads the delegation.