Fisheries committee  For some reason or other, it didn't. You may recall that not only does Norway harvest seals, but it also has a whale hunt. How that isn't impacted by U.S. policy and acts is something.... I expect that either the U.S. worked out a bilateral agreement with Norway or that the U.S. has an understanding that if there is a proper stock status established, based on methodologies, it meets a standard that would enable imports of fish products, notwithstanding a seal and whale hunt.

Fisheries committee  I'm now outside of government, but to answer that, I would say that lack of consultation with the fishing industry before the introduction of those policies suggests that the department is being cautious. As to why, I'm not sure I can allude to or give you any kind of direct response.

Fisheries committee  I think in the Scandinavian countries they have a little different philosophy in their approach on ecosystem management, and yet I think they are one of the most substantial exporters of fish products to the U.S. Combined, the groups probably rival what Canada's exports are. They are being very coy.

Fisheries committee  To my understanding, they first went about determining the seal population. They had methodologies to determine the population. They were able to determine—they do have a limited seal hunt—how they would best balance the combination of predator and prey between seals and their fish stocks.

Fisheries committee  The feedback that I've received from my contacts in the industry in both provinces and throughout Atlantic Canada has been in regard to the introduction of the nuisance seal policy and also a recent response to the product being put in processing for bait products. It would appear that they have been very cautious.

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to both present and participate in your session. I'm a retired DFO senior federal fisheries policy and operations manager. I've participated in multilateral and bilateral discussions throughout the last 25 to 30 years and I've also led delegations in Japan and led bilateral herring discussions with the U.S.