Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Frank Pinhorn. I'm the executive director of the Canadian Sealers Association in Newfoundland and Labrador. The CSA was formed in 1981 as an advocacy group representing the interests of all of our

Fisheries committee  Getting back to what you said about had there been any incidents, I talked to Ron Burton, the chief enforcement officer with DFO in western Newfoundland and Labrador. You will recall in 2008 that the Farley Mowat did go into the Gulf with the sole purpose of trying to disrupt tho

Fisheries committee  As I said a few minutes ago, the real issue is the licensed observers. They can go to within 10 metres of a boat, and they're there with their .222s and .223s, they've got powerful boats, they're out on the ice in all kinds of weather, and it's not a place for anyone. So what we'

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. We know of instances in which sealing crews have been surrounded and couldn't get to their boats.

Fisheries committee  For one thing, I think the approach they're taking is wrong. It's an approach that is long and drawn out. By the time it's resolved to any measure of satisfaction for either side, the sealing industry will be dead in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. If we don't soon start getting

Fisheries committee  To deal with it through the WTO will take forever. I met with Ed Fast and I met with Gerald Keddy, who's the parliamentary secretary. When they were talking about the free trade agreement with Europe, I asked him when he's going to deal with the sealing issue, and he said, “We're

Fisheries committee  I was talking to the gentleman over here. These animal rights groups have pocketfuls of money. Every time we get a market, they get inside information and they get in there and they press these governments. We had an agreement in principle with China, but it has never meant that

Fisheries committee  If you have any questions, my number is inside here on the back, right here, and our website.

Fisheries committee  Okay.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. It's a critical part of what they're doing.

Fisheries committee  The price was too low. I said the average price. In eight years, the average price was $20 to $35. You're paying $1.10 or $1.20 a litre to fuel up a sealing boat. Some of these 34-11s take $3,000 to $10,000 worth of fuel.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. Animal rights groups are over there in full bloom.

Fisheries committee  I have some booklets here if you want to take one.

Fisheries committee  Yes, Madam.

Fisheries committee  The reason we supported the bill in principle is that when advocating for the sealing industry, it's not very often that we get people who are what we would call like-minded. MP Kerr had the interest to introduce the bill and to increase the distance, and it's a good point in are