44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
- May/30/22 8:18:14 p.m.
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Madam Chair, no illegal fishing is acceptable, and we are working with the provinces and the RCMP to ensure that compliance enforcement is in place.
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- May/30/22 8:41:00 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we are privileged, as Canadians, to live in a country that has the Great Lakes area as part of our country. We share the Great Lakes with the United States. The Great Lakes have almost 20% of all the fresh water on this planet, so this is an amazing resource. The Great Lakes are critical in so many ways, for providing fresh water to citizens, for providing recreation, whether it is boating, swimming, paddling and even hunting and fishing. The Great Lakes are also a huge source of economic value. The wine region, the Niagara wine region, is so successful because of the microclimate around the Great Lakes.
One of the challenges with the Great Lakes, of course, is that there are some invasive species that do not belong there, that have proliferated and that need to be addressed. A primary one is the sea lamprey. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission is a collaboration between the United States and Canada. We have a formal treaty between the Department of State and Global Affairs Canada to—
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- May/30/22 8:46:31 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her question.
This fish is a food source for other very important stocks, such as cod. I realize that fishing is partially responsible for some of the pressure on this stock, but it depends on the stock. If we can increase it, and I hope we can, we will—
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- May/30/22 9:51:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that brought me back to a time when I was in opposition, in the opposition lobby, visiting with some representatives from an oceans conservation organization who told me about ghost gear. It was the first time I had heard about it and the idea that this fishing gear is trapping and killing fish and even whales endlessly, because it was abandoned in the ocean.
I am so pleased to say that our government is taking action on that. The member did a great job of laying out how important that is. We have a ghost gear program. The results of this program have been very impressive so far. Approved projects are funded based on activities under four pillars: abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear; responsible disposal, like the one he saw and I have seen at Steveston Harbour; acquiring and piloting innovative technologies to do these things; and international leadership.
This will be available for a wide range of individuals, companies, businesses, not-for-profits, indigenous organizations, research institutions and other levels of government. I really encourage interested parties to apply. The applications are due by June 6 this year at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
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- May/30/22 10:31:59 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it comes from other fishing data.
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- May/30/22 10:35:38 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that would not have been the reason to stop fishing the shrimp. We were setting an allocation that would protect the shrimp.
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- May/30/22 11:07:53 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her question.
Yes, we support independent harvesters with fishery allocations and with data on both sea and fishing conditions. We have new regulations in place for independent harvesters.
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- May/30/22 11:50:01 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for Cape Breton—Canso for his very deep engagement with his community and for championing the issues, including small craft harbours in Cape Breton.
Our government and I fully understand the important role that small craft harbours play in our country. These government-owned harbours are located throughout Canada and provide commercial fish harvesters and other small craft harbour users with safe and accessible facilities. Some 90% of Canadian fishing vessels are using small craft harbours, and fish harvesters depend on these facilities to support their livelihoods.
As the parliamentary secretary mentioned, our government provided $300 million over two years to repair, renew and replace small craft harbours. With this new funding, our government has now announced that $784 million in new funding for a small craft harbours program has been allocated since 2016, so we understand how important these harbours are to communities. In these estimates that we are discussing today, $149.5 million in new funding is being provided for the small craft harbours program.
We understand how important the fish and seafood industry is. It is my job and commitment to grow that industry. For that we need harbours that can support the fishers who use them, and we are working to do just that.
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