International Trade committee  That's an interesting question. We're at early days in terms of genetically modified salmon, and it's the first animal that's been approved, so we don't even know where that will lead. Right now the marketplace is not interested in the product, and that's one of the reasons my members aren't interested in the technology, because the buyers are not interested in purchasing the product.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Canada's aquaculture farmers, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. These are indeed exciting times to be in the aquaculture industry in Canada. Demand is booming and we are excited by the new trade opportunities the trans-Pacific partnership presents.

Agriculture committee  I think you've narrowed it down to exactly what our focus is. It's the market demand. We want to be producing a high-quality product that's in high demand. We currently are doing that. It would be very difficult to say how the consumer preference would change in 10 or 15 years, but we want to stay in touch with what the marketplace actually demands.

Agriculture committee  We should have two meals a week and Canada is having about two meals a month.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  You raise some really important questions in terms of how we increase the domestic consumption of fish and seafood. That's a much broader discussion than the one we're having around genetically modified technology. On that perspective I think there's a great deal we need to do collectively, not just as an industry but also as a government, and retailers as well, to help support that increased consumption of fish and seafood.

Agriculture committee  That's a different question from how we actually increase consumption.

Agriculture committee  Right.

Agriculture committee  Again, we're making our growth decisions and plans for the future based on the current marketplace and the customers that my members have. They tell my members they're not interested in purchasing that product, so we don't see it as a major threat. We don't oppose the approval of genetically modified salmon.

Agriculture committee  Right.

Agriculture committee  I would like to be clear about your question. Do we feel that the genetically modified product coming into Canada would be a competitor?

Agriculture committee  Backing up to your earlier question, certainly our members are in touch with their customers both at the retail and the restaurant levels, and they're hearing the same thing, namely, that the customers are not interested in genetically modified salmon. That's really critical because we feel the problem is that there's a gap in the amount of farmed salmon that's available on the marketplace today.

Agriculture committee  Certainly, from talking to my members who are in touch with the buyers in Canada, it's exactly the same trend. Consumers in Canada and the U.S. are not interested in eating genetically modified salmon.

Agriculture committee  Yes. We'll support whatever the government's decision is, for sure.

Agriculture committee  Exactly. As I say, we've not been able to meet the demand. Our members often say to me that they could sell double the amount of salmon that they have if they had access to it, if they could produce it. Our challenge hasn't been to try to defend against the wild industry. It's been to encourage people to eat more salmon and work with our politicians and our federal government to improve our regulatory and legislative framework so that we can grow sustainably and responsibly to meet that demand.