Fisheries committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for having me here today to share the story from the Pacific coast. My name is Duncan Cameron. I'm a fourth-generation fisherman from Pender Harbour, British Columbia. I grew up fishing with my dad for salmon, halibut, and herring spawn on kelp. At 18 I

Fisheries committee  I don't think it's oversight. The issue begins with capacity on the lower end and data collection and science. To have proper management plans that the enforcement officer is enforcing, we have to have proper science and data to create those management plans. When we don't even h

Fisheries committee  When I was younger, there were more charter patrolmen. Basically a charter patrolman had some mild enforcement capabilities, but they would go around and walk in salmon streams, or if the herring were spawning, they'd go out and sound for herring. They would usually live in the a

Fisheries committee  They would also work for monitoring companies, say JO Thomas and Associates. They would monitor our roe on kelp or spawn on kelp fishery so they'd be there watching how many plants we put in the water, which we had to report. They'd be sounding the herring and delivering that to

Fisheries committee  It was a much more positive relationship. If you were violating a condition of licence, they were going to tell you about it, but it was positive. They would come on the boat for coffee in the morning and talk about maybe where they'd seen herring or how there weren't enough coho

Fisheries committee  Sure, I'll just do a quick, two-part response. First, the one answer that you get a lot of the time that's incorrect is that corporations have to own ITQs and that that's needed in the groundfish fishery. People can own ITQs. We can trade yelloweye to operate in the groundfish f

Fisheries committee  Yes. It's just a different direction. I don't know if it's been applied equally.

Fisheries committee  No.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  No, I do not have the details. There was a recent Globe and Mail story that came out about it. It's not $50 million exactly. I believe it's just over $50 million. That sale was offered to someone in B.C., but no one in B.C. could afford it, so that's why it was sold.

Fisheries committee  I think when I was speaking, I was referring to the increase in power for enforcement officers.

Fisheries committee  It's just the culture of how they interact.

Fisheries committee  It's not actually holding something over someone; it's just the manner and the culture.

Fisheries committee  Yes, it was a DFO-funded program. It's been cut, since, I believe, the 1970s. Last year, there were still two major.... There are still six or seven charter patrolmen, I believe, but every year they're sort of dying off. There are not really any new entrants to that program.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely, yes.