Fisheries committee  I'm echoing everything that my colleagues have said here and also adding that ongoing monitoring as part of a strategic marine debris management plan is essential for us to get a better understanding of the threats that are facing our coastline from marine debris, part of that be

Fisheries committee  I echo Karen's sentiments entirely in terms of capacity building. Also, engagement from the very beginning is so important to ensure that we are acknowledging the knowledge, experience and wealth of information that exists within our first nations communities in terms of marine s

Fisheries committee  Thanks, Lucas. We haven't had very much communication from the Coast Guard in terms of reports of debris. The information that we have has come from information sharing between ourselves and our peers within the BC Marine Debris Working Group. The information that we have availa

Fisheries committee  If it's container-related debris, then we have been keeping a record of that. We've been taking coordinates and photos where possible and then sharing that within our network so that we can further build our understanding of how far the debris is spreading, what types of debris i

Fisheries committee  I think the great opportunity here is that the BC Marine Debris Working Group has already had a great head start on that. We have existing relationships with first nations communities and the guardians programs that exist in a lot of those communities. There are local resources t

Fisheries committee  As Karen has also alluded to, the policy gaps in responding to marine debris are as evident as they were after Hanjin, unfortunately. The debris has spread. We know that it's affecting a huge stretch of the B.C. coastline. I'm alarmed to hear that we are in the after phase, becau

Fisheries committee  Immediately after the spill and as soon as we heard that it had happened, we in the Pacific Rim branch started reaching out to our local Coast Guard networks in Tofino and also the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The spill happened alarmingly close to where the Hanjin happened

Fisheries committee  I'd love to jump in as well. There are serious concerns about long-term monitoring as well. When we can't accurately track where these containers are and we don't know where the load of chemicals will eventually spill, it's almost impossible for us to engage in any long-term mon

Fisheries committee  My apologies, I'll speak more slowly. Essentially, I'd just like to leave you with the recommendations that Surfrider Canada would like to put forward. Primarily they are to increase low response capacity in relation to marine container spills; implement a marine debris monitori

Fisheries committee  Thanks, Lucas. My name is Alys Hoyland. I'm the youth program coordinator of the Pacific Rim chapter of Surfrider Foundation Canada. I've been leading the organization's response to marine cargo container spills. I'm grateful to live within the traditional and unceded territorie