Fisheries committee  We are expecting to have it fully in place in 2011. We have contracts out now on the design of the system, conducting resource needs, and so on. Part of what we have been doing is going into the provincial system to understand exactly how their data is stored and how well or poorly it transfers.

Fisheries committee  In B.C. the sea lice monitoring in particular in the past has been done in what I would describe as a more partnership-based approach. The industry certainly does some itself, the province does some as well, and then they do some together. In the past the industry would report its data and would say whatever we said.

Fisheries committee  If I said that the disease potential is high, I misspoke, and I apologize for that. The concern about a disease outbreak is very, very high. My level of confidence with respect to disease, again, is based on the New Brunswick case, because we're dealing geographically with a much smaller area than we are with respect to British Columbia.

Fisheries committee  The New Brunswick system is twofold. The province does a regular inspection tour and is on farms on a regular basis. In New Brunswick the system for conducting sea lice monitoring rests predominantly with the industry. They do their own sampling, they record their own data, and they report those figures to the province, but the actual monitoring activity is done by the industry.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  It's not so much that there is more in the east; it's just that it's a smaller geographic range. The frequency of visits to farm sites is a little higher because there are fewer of them to go to. So it's a little more condensed geographically, and the number of people who are on the water relative to the number of farms is higher in the east simply because it's a physically smaller operation.

Fisheries committee  First, the information management system in British Columbia is not non-existent, and I wouldn't want to suggest I'm being unduly critical of the provincial government. It's just a level of investment in aquaculture licensing information, and so on, that we felt needed to be a little higher for us to do our job.

Fisheries committee  I wouldn't characterize that as a closed containment production system. They've never grown any fish to market, and they've had to kill all the fish they had in there in the last three years. It does grow fish in floating bags, as you saw. They have not, to my knowledge anyway, grown a fish from egg to harvest yet.

Fisheries committee  Middle Bay, I would imagine. From my point of view, Middle Bay is the one I believe you are referring to.

Fisheries committee  I apologize that I might get my year wrong. There has been an ISA outbreak in New Brunswick, Mr. Chairman. You might know that. Our technical experts tell us that in 1998 there was a disease outbreak in New Brunswick of ISA. It was dealt with. I'm not aware of any disease incidents in New Brunswick today or in Nova Scotia or in Newfoundland.

Fisheries committee  It used to be that I would joke with people that all issues and problems around aquaculture occur in British Columbia. New Brunswick has now given me an opportunity to be truly national in focus. The nature of the challenges in New Brunswick is quite significant. There are significant levels of sea lice on farmed salmon in New Brunswick now.

Fisheries committee  Insofar as your visit, your intended field trip, is concerned, you can't go and visit closed containment facilities because there are none. They don't exist in Canada anyway. Around closed containment, essentially in Canada there are no facilities that you can visit right now that would demonstrate closed containment technology because it doesn't exist.

Fisheries committee  Your understanding of the system is correct, first. Essentially what will happen is the province will continue to issue leases for the land base, so the province will decide where in British Columbia aquaculture will occur. To operate in British Columbia you will require a lease from the province, and going forward you will require a licence from us.

Fisheries committee  It does today and it will in the future. Essentially what will happen is that we will, as I mentioned earlier, be working very closely with the province, using common criteria for decision-making. What we want to avoid is a scenario under which the province issues someone a lease and we come along and say, that's great, but we're not giving you a licence because that's just the wrong place for it.

Fisheries committee  With respect to escapes, one of the conditions of licence will be that people will have to report escapes, if and when they occur. Our feeling is that the number of fish that escape every year is quite small—it's not zero—and we want to ensure that every farm is required to report to us any escapes they've had, on a monthly basis, probably.