Fisheries committee  It's DFO and Transport Canada that have the primary regulatory authority over vessels.

Fisheries committee  As I mentioned, we don't currently have limitations on corporate concentration or foreign ownership in Pacific fisheries, so we do not apply criteria to assess that.

Fisheries committee  I wouldn't characterize it that way. I think it's more accurate to say that we have a current management approach that we implement, which does not entail those constraints on who holds licences or quota. If we were to choose a management approach that had those constraints, then, yes, I expect we would have to develop some kind of approach or assessment that would allow us to validate who is participating.

Fisheries committee  I'll invite my colleague Mr. Waddell to respond to that.

Fisheries committee  I can offer a response to that. Strictly speaking, it could be implemented. I think there are important questions that we would want to explore with our indigenous partners about their interests. I know that, right now, the communal commercial licences are used in different ways.

Fisheries committee  The key examples that I hear most often have to do with this phrase we have used before of “unscrambling the omelette”. There are arrangements that have been in place for some time. What would some of the proposals for change, such as fleet separation or owner-operator, mean for unwinding some of those arrangements?

Fisheries committee  I think we have more engagement to do. I think that, out of some more in-depth engagement, we will be better placed to do something like generate a well-informed “what we heard” report.

Fisheries committee  That's not what I intended. We have done early consultation. We have a general understanding of some interests and views, but to really dig in to talk about what it would take if we were to implement the kinds of changes proposed warrants further consultation because of the significance of the implications of making those changes.

Fisheries committee  I think we'll see how the next stage goes. For example, if we get very diverse views and no convergence on major policy ideas, that may warrant a subsequent step to try to bridge that. If there's a lot of support for certain ideas, that may make it much easier for something the minister could decide to advance.

Fisheries committee  We plan to get engagement under way on the details in the coming months, and I think we have an interest in making that process efficient so we have some next steps or some ideas proposed.

Fisheries committee  This is a much broader set of recommendations that have implications for a variety of dimensions on the fishery side. I don't think we're anticipating that we can get through all of this in six months, but I do think we want to be efficient. Trying to get through that in a year or so is probably a more reasonable time frame, but we'll finalize that once we have some additional direction.

Fisheries committee  I think the key is for us to draw on the expertise and time of a variety of existing staff within the department. The reality is that we need expertise in things like licensing and in our management approaches, which vary from one fishery to the next. We essentially need to draw on the expertise as we move ahead.

Fisheries committee  As my colleague mentioned, we have the minister's mandate letter, which sets out a set of priorities for us. The contributions of a number of those staff I mentioned are sought on a variety of the department's priorities as set out in that mandate letter. It will always be a balancing act.

Fisheries committee  It was issued in early 2021.

Fisheries committee  I might slightly edit that to say that we asked the contractor what it would take if we were to implement those east coast policies in a west coast context. The contractor provided advice on that question.