Fisheries committee  Sure. I have it for last year and this year. This year, stewardship is 10,525 tonnes. That's an estimate, of course. Recreational is 2,000 tonnes; science is 275 tonnes; bycatch domestically is estimated at 25 tonnes; foreign bycatch is 150 tonnes; for food, social, and ceremonial it's about 50 tonnes, and for the Cod Quality projects I referred to earlier it's 475 tonnes.

Fisheries committee  The stewardship is what was allocated as a maximum or an estimate, but the catch reports we have up to now show that by the end of the season, unless there is a big increase, they won't reach 10,000 tonnes.

Fisheries committee  Is it available on the web?

Environment committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Good afternoon. I would first like to thank you for inviting us today. We are pleased to support your interest in the government's efforts to protect our three oceans. As you are aware, on June 8, 2016, as part of World Oceans Day celebrations, Ministers LeBlanc, McKenna and Bennett announced the government's five-point plan to meet its targets to increase marine and coastal protection to 5% by 2017 and 10% by 2020.

Environment committee  I can certainly commit that we will consult everyone when we create marine protected areas so that they're all equal partners and we're not excluding anyone.

Environment committee  Maybe I could jump in, and Sue can continue. Each of us has a work plan. Ours is to meet the target in 2017 and the 10% target in 2020. We share our work plan with colleagues in other departments, at all levels—the director, DG, and ADM levels. You saw in my presentation that I referred to some activities or marine protected areas that have been contributed by Environment or by Parks Canada, and we integrate those into our target.

Environment committee  For marine protected areas, no other legislative changes are anticipated, other than the Oceans Act. That's the only one.

Environment committee  I hope it's an inaccurate statement.

Environment committee  I can answer, and then I'll turn it over to Jeff, who has more experience than I do in the department. Certainly, the plan that we have and the money we received in budget 2016 support an in-depth consultation and engagement of all stakeholders. We have the MPA network supported by that, to make sure that all stakeholders are involved in the consultations, and we also have some resources to support the consultation with indigenous groups.

Environment committee  Yes, they can, as “other measures”. That's what we are defining, how “other measures” can contribute to the protection of marine areas. They're not necessarily designated under the Oceans Act, but fisheries closures, in some cases, can provide sufficient protection for the area so it can be counted as a protected area.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  I can tell you that my deputy minister asks me almost every day how we are advancing on the plan for a marine conservation target. She asks me this question because the minister asks her that question every day. I think the sense of urgency is very present in our department for the target of 2017 and 2020.

Environment committee  I think we built that consistency within the budget allocation in budget 2016. We built the capacity to have staff, both in the regions and in the national capital region to support a consultation process that is oriented on local and regional communities and stakeholders, but also having a national consistency in achieving the goals so it's not done in isolation.

Environment committee  That's a broad question. I would say mostly yes, but I have to put that in context. Based on a reconciliation perspective, I totally support the 50/50 partnership. The question we have to take into consideration, and it's more related to fisheries management than marine conservation targets or a marine protected area, is that when we manage a species, we have to take care of not only a certain area, but also sometimes a larger area.

Environment committee  Yes, and—