Fisheries committee  Canada would vote on it.

Fisheries committee  Canada, for NAFO, is represented through the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, who establishes a mandate for representatives who participate in the NAFO deliberations. So it would be under a mandate as set out by the minister.

Fisheries committee  We would see it being utilized, if it was utilized in the area of cooperation, particularly in the area of science in terms of collaboration on research and understanding of ecosystems. We've seen in NAFO the need for us to have a much better understanding of the impact of fishing on sensitive marine ecosystems.

Fisheries committee  First, there has not ever been any request for management within the Canadian zone. This is about, as Mr. Beaupré has explained, the incorporation of language from other modern regional fisheries management organization conventions that were drawn--

Fisheries committee  It appears in other RFMO instruments, such as for the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission. This is the sister organization to NAFO for the management of fisheries in the eastern Atlantic on the high seas. So in this case, countries like the EU would be subject to the same type of provision as a coastal state with respect to their exclusive economic zone.

Fisheries committee  Well, it reflects a concept of cooperation. It really is about the way forward in terms of looking to the future for NAFO and other similar RFMOs. We all know that in NAFO we've seen the collapse of stocks as a result of overfishing. We've seen moratoria and the need to come together, cooperate, and manage on an ecosystem basis with the complexities of ecosystems.

Fisheries committee  First, I'd have great difficulty in speculating or endeavouring to impute what the purposes or the intent of the EU folks were in terms of coming to the negotiation of the new NAFO convention, but I would say this inclusion in this convention is similar to what exists in other international regional fisheries organization conventions, such as the one that governs fisheries on the eastern Atlantic.

Fisheries committee  It would be voted--

Fisheries committee  It would be requested by the Government of Canada.

Fisheries committee  It would be requested by the Government of Canada, by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, that if one were ever to choose to invoke that, that would be the process.

Fisheries committee  I'm going to ask Mr. Beaupré to jump in on this because I wasn't party to the negotiations. But I know that the development of this proposed amendment was established by a consensus of all 12 parties to NAFO. It wasn't as though anyone was compelling or imposing. It's about all parties coming together in a willing spirit and agreeing that the principles of the new convention are such that NAFO will be more effective in achieving its objectives into the future.

Fisheries committee  First, with respect to the 3M cod, the advice that NAFO received from the Scientific Council was that a TAC could be established anywhere between 4,125 tonnes and above 8,000 tonnes and we would still see rebuilding of the stock with it being reopened. A TAC of 4,125 would have, according to the scientists, projected a rebuilding at 125%, where 5,500 would provide for a rebuilding at 115%.

Fisheries committee  I was the head of delegation at the last NAFO meeting, so I was party to the discussions where, on the basis of the scientific advice, on the basis of the additional measures that were adopted at NAFO, such as continuing a bycatch provision at 5% rather than increasing it to 10%, this stock is still within the safe range and is rebuilding to a TAC of 5,500 tonnes where it's acceptable.

Fisheries committee  The precautionary principle, or precautionary approach, would say that we should be precautionary when the stock is not in the safe zone. The stock was in the safe zone. It could have been reopened a year ago, but a reopening was deferred to allow for further rebuilding. The decision that was taken at NAFO is reflective of the range of the scientific advice, and it's within the scientific advice.

Fisheries committee  I could go on to the other stocks that you enumerated. It's the same story.