Fisheries committee  Absolutely.

Fisheries committee  I would echo that in terms of the numbers. We don't need the number of plants we used to have. We've had a significant reduction from 200-plus in the groundfish days. As we've gone through shellfish, we're down now to somewhere around 60 to 70 plants in the province. I've always

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much. I've timed it for just under nine, so hopefully I'll get there. On behalf of the Association of Seafood Producers, I am pleased to appear before this committee, and I thank you for the invitation. I'll give you a quick overview of the ASP, our role and work

International Trade committee  I'd say the same thing as Christina has said. We've seen it take place in other countries. Iceland is one example. You might not see a direct increase in the number of jobs but in better jobs, better-paying jobs, longer-term jobs, and increases in the season. In our sector, one

International Trade committee  Oh, that's a really good question as well. You'll have to come down for dinner too.

International Trade committee  —in Canadian history, with huge ramifications all throughout Atlantic Canada. We're going through a period now when we see a changing ecosystem, and we have increasing abundance in the cod biomass, in northern cod. I think we'll be back to a commercial fishery in due course, in m

International Trade committee  That's a great question, and I'd love to sit down over dinner, and a fish meal at that, to discuss it. The cod layoff was the largest industrial layoff—

International Trade committee  Yes. I said we support CETA and TPP. We support both for the same reasons.

International Trade committee  I think Christina has spoken to one. I don't know if Christina, whom I know well from the industry, might be prepared to address the phytosanitary issue as an example of a non-trade barrier.

International Trade committee  Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for the invitation to address you this morning. Very quickly, ASP is the industry trade association representing seafood processors in the province. Total production is around $1 billion—it varies year in, year out—and my members produce th

International Trade committee  Yes, we get support from trade commissioners, from the seafood shows we attend worldwide as well. They are invaluable support.

International Trade committee  I wouldn't assume it, because the net basket of fish to sell is based on quotas. We have about $1 billion of fish to sell, so the amount of fish is the same. The processing won't change unless the market requires a different form of processing. The assumption might not hold. It m

International Trade committee  I'm not sure, to be clear. Christina Burridge, who you know well, I suspect, would be the best person to ask about the B.C. industry.

International Trade committee  I don't represent the harvesting side of the business in the inshore. That's represented, as you said, by the FFAW and Unifor. The harvesting unionization rate is 100% by legislation, Joey Smallwood's last piece of legislation passed in 1971 or 1972. By law, all harvesters are bo

International Trade committee  The impact is huge. The seafood industry is one of the largest private sector employers in Atlantic Canada, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador, mostly in rural communities. When you go into a marketplace—and we're not unlike the pork industry in that sense, as the margins