Fisheries committee  First of all, I want to thank the committee for the work. It's certainly very interesting and I think has very thoughtful recommendations with respect to a range of issues on the west coast that are quite different from those on the east coast. I have met with many stakeholders who have wanted to talk about these issues.

Fisheries committee  That is certainly public information, yes, and on small craft harbours, it's really focused on harbours where there are commercial fisheries, in support of commercial fisheries. There was a decision a number of years ago that there were some small craft harbours that would be divested, typically to the community-based organizations that wish to accept them.

Fisheries committee  Certainly, the issue of aquatic invasive species is an important one, and it is an increasingly important one as we move forward in the era when climate change is changing the nature of the ability of these species both to come here and to survive and thrive. That is certainly why addressing climate change in a thoughtful and substantive way is a very important thing to do, but with respect to—

Fisheries committee  As I said to you, we accept the recommendations of the commissioner and we are working to ensure that we are addressing all of them.

Fisheries committee  —aquatic invasive species, there were a couple of things with respect to the commissioner's report. The first is that we accept her recommendations and certainly will be working to meet many of the comments she made, but it is also important to note that both the scope and the timing of her report exclude a number of things that have been done.

Fisheries committee  It's a significant increase in funding relative to what had been funded under the previous government. We recognize that more will need to be done. Part of that needs to be done through a federal-provincial framework and we have been working with all of the fisheries ministers across the country to develop that.

Fisheries committee  No. I think that this is, as I said, a comprehensive issue. It's industrial development over long periods of time, it's climate change—

Fisheries committee  It's the management of the fishery, and we need to ensure that we're taking a comprehensive approach to address all of those issues, which is exactly what we have done.

Fisheries committee  I certainly remain dedicated to ensuring that the process to award the fourth surf clam licence results in meaningful and measurable direct and indirect benefits for indigenous peoples. I certainly appreciate the efforts of Clearwater to include multiple indigenous communities in the proposal that it brought forward.

Fisheries committee  —and so you want to make sure you're not overwhelming the wild genetic stock.

Fisheries committee  What I said is that hatcheries are a tool, from a science perspective, that you need to use in a thoughtful way—

Fisheries committee  Certainly, we are committed to the use of the precautionary approach in fisheries decision-making. It's certainly a key component of managing these fisheries in a sustainable way. It is something, obviously, that stakeholders and, in particular, fish harvesters need to have involvement in as we go forward.

Fisheries committee  I will do so.

Fisheries committee  It's a process that you need to be thoughtful about and a tool you need to be—

Fisheries committee  As I said, the conversation around hatcheries is that we will be—