Fisheries committee  That would be correct. As I said, we don't know what's in or what's out from a budget perspective. It would be speculation on my part, Mr. Chairman, so I think I should probably decline.

Fisheries committee  We're still studying the budget, and we're not in a position to comment on what is actually in or out of the budget at this point in time. This is an area where we have ongoing commitments with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and it would be my hope and expectation that we will be continuing to do this work.

Fisheries committee  On the first one, the binational risk assessment, I guess probably the safest answer for me to give on this is that when you have a bunch of scientists who have to come to some kind of consensus agreement, and these things are peer reviewed, it takes some time to finalize reports.

Fisheries committee  The spread for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is 69 American and 31 Canadian, so they put in approximately $22 million a year to our $8.1 million. That's for the eradication and measures related to the sea lamprey. There is also an administrative component and a scientific research component, and that's cost shared on a 50-50 basis between Canada and the United States.

Fisheries committee  I was just going to add to what Michelle said. Clearly, as David said in his remarks, we're about 90% effective in our treatment for sea lamprey. As we see the resident fish populations grow, we're also seeing areas along the St. Marys River course, in some instances, where when we slow down treatments, there's a resurgence of sea lamprey.

Fisheries committee  Back in 2003, some live carp were found in Lake Erie. That precipitated our study in 2005. Those carp that were found were actually brought in. When we did the genetics on them, it was proven that they were sterile, so they weren't breeding stock. That was the good news. It helped frame our initial study on Asian carp.

Fisheries committee  The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is up for renewal, as you may be aware. We've gone through the four plenary sessions. The two federal governments are in the final stages of reviewing the agreement. The drafts and the mandate we had in negotiating the agreement did, in fact, have an annex related to aquatic invasive species.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for your question. A lot of the work we're doing currently is all about partnerships. There is a very good partnership between the state and federal levels across all the states, as well as here at home with the Province of Ontario. The study you're referring to by the Great Lakes cities and St.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our department is a partner in the process. Obviously, it's an INAC lead, and I know that officials from INAC have been here before the committee. From our perspective, things that touch the water and the use of the water are fundamental to the land claims participants. Obviously, making sure that the habitat is protected is the big issue for us and for them.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The completion date would be 2012.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Pangnirtung is the first facility we have in the eastern Arctic. In the western Arctic we currently have three small craft harbours facilities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In my opening remarks I referenced the role of the co-management boards. A lot of our interactions with the communities are to ensure that we're working cooperatively and we're understanding their capabilities and abilities to prosecute the fishery. As you indicated, through some of the settlement agreements there is a requirement to share the allocation, as you've referenced, the 1,500 tonnes that we have on the new NAFO.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The construction of the small craft harbour in Pangnirtung is going to play a significant role in the advancement of the emerging fisheries, which I indicated in my remarks is a huge economic driver in the eastern Arctic. It's also going to help with strengthening the local economy and expanding the local fisheries in the areas I've indicated.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are some commercial fisheries in the western part of the Beaufort. I don't believe there are any in the part that we bought up against the American border, but I'm not an expert on that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a good question. Thank you. It's a question that has come up since the U.S. moratorium. The reality is that we don't at this time have any commercial fisheries in that part of the Beaufort, so it is not a pressing issue from a commercial perspective. That being said, I think we share the concerns expressed by the United States government on ensuring that we have appropriate conservation measures on that in place and we have the appropriate scientific knowledge to advance any commercial endeavours in that part of the Arctic.