Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. Indeed this is the year that we'll be making our submission. The matter is indeed in the main estimates; there are some resources in this fiscal year and some resources for the next few years. I'll explain that as well. It has taken 10 years' work to prepare Canada's submission.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. As the minister said, there has been an approval process for scientific publications by the department for a long time, since the 1970s. The minister also said that there was a slight change in the procedures related to this process in one of our regions, because of a report by the auditor general.

Fisheries committee  The Asian carp initiative, as you point out, that was announced in the budget last year was for $17.5 million over five years, and as you point out, with $1.5 million to get the project started this year. The overall objective is to address Asian carp. Prevention is number one: preventing Asian carp from getting into and establishing themselves in the Great Lakes area.

Fisheries committee  Thanks very much. Actually, I'll start with the resources and the transfer that is requested here. It's just under a million dollars. It is work that has been ongoing for a long time, and it dates back to a couple of decades ago when areas of concern in the Great Lakes were identified to be, in short form, cleaned up.

Fisheries committee  That is in fact saltwater fisheries. Basically, that is what was called Larocque funding. It was funding that was provided to the department starting in 2007, following a court decision in 2006 that said we couldn't continue to do the agreements we had with the commercial fishermen themselves.

Fisheries committee  You have correctly divined what the purpose behind it was. It is a challenge to figure out and you've certainly done it. The objective is to clarify that the prohibition for dams and other types of obstruction is section 35. It was confusing because it was in section 20.

Fisheries committee  Yes. Let me just provide a very brief explanation of why we've got changes in 176.

Fisheries committee  When Bill C-38 was under way, we heard from some stakeholders. I think I mentioned this last time. The Hydropower Association and the Electricity Association were concerned because the new section 20, which is the old 26, said that you can't obstruct more than two-thirds of the water course or the river.

Fisheries committee  That is correct.

Fisheries committee  I'd say a couple of things in addition to what I've said. David has already spoken to the issue of the number of people on the ground. What I would also add, though, is that in terms of the legislative framework we now have, we now have regulatory tools to provide that clarity. We knew when we were coming up with these concepts that we'd certainly deal with the science folks, but also with others.

Fisheries committee  It's why we've provided the regulatory tools that we have. There is a transition period, which is a challenge, no question. That's partly what the calculation is. Do you implement it with guidance and direction, or do you put at least the first couple of regulations in place to ensure that you've got the regulatory clarity?

Fisheries committee  I can respond to it. Mr. Balfour was referring to the 15 years or so of experience with the current program. It's science, policy, and program work. We get about 8,000 referrals a year, so we get 8,000 projects that come into the department every year that say, “We want to do this, so can we do it?”

Fisheries committee  —to have sufficient science, and you can always use more, but we believe that we have what we need.

Fisheries committee  That's the difference between the 8,000 projects...right now, we still review 8,000.

Fisheries committee  I would make a couple of comments. First, it is absolutely the case that what we have in Bill C-38, which has already passed, and in Bill C-45 is more complex than it was. It is more complex, because previously, section 32 said you can't kill fish by means other than fishing, period, unless the minister authorizes it.